Immortal University XIV

[silverbullet]

Time to increase the representation of women in the immortal university.

Doesn't look like a great start, I hope there is another food resource around and I am inclined to settle in place.
Anyone has clever ideas about utilizing the UU and UB? Both seem useless to me.

As always, please post your progress in spoiler tags with the year outside the spoiler.

 

[Rusten]

Start looks great to me. There's coastal fish, a FP and a lot of river tiles for commerce -- I'd rate it pretty high from what we see atm.

I, too, doubt that the UU/UB will influence most games, but you never know.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

To use the UU, all you need is copper. So like, prioritize copper, as if you wouldn't anyway . If nothing else, it's at least as good as a sword, and will net you minor extra protection on hills (can also be used with G III for withdrawals in some situations, and for hill attack). Problem is getting G III meaningfully early is a bit rough.

The UB can technically provide you with g III units up until rifles (including muskets and grenadiers). I tend not to get too cute with this stuff though, but who knows in a pinch.

IMO no need to get creative. Just get swords slightly earlier if you have copper, and play normally otherwise. Good traits for an early rush thanks to the +2 and strong melee.

Signing in. I don't intend to lose like I did last time.

 

[Gliese 581]

Hmm perhaps I'll play this one a bit since col2 suffers from fundamental flaws that need to be fixed before I give it another go.. though I haven't finished the Pacal games, but it feels a bit useless at this point, AGG AI can't compete once I've cleared my continent. Nothing wrong with the start here to my eyes, another food resource would of course be great.

 

[DMOC]

Coastal fish??? How often does that happen?

 

[obsolete]

I think I'll pass on this one. After just playing for a few days on Colonization II's serverly broken and over-simplistic & watered-down version of a game, I think I've fallen back about 5 levels of play.

 

[DMOC]

Oh yeah, I seriously hope Boudica starts with Fishing....

 

[Jet]

Hunting/Mysticism. Looks like Scout/growth -> WB -> Worker. Moving to the plains hill is faster, but you lose two dark unforested BFC tiles even if you move the Scout. Then I guess Mining -> Archery, or BW if someone is close.

 

[Genv [FP]]

I think I'll pass on this one. After just playing for a few days on Colonization II's serverly broken and over-simplistic & watered-down version of a game, I think I've fallen back about 5 levels of play.

Nooooo

Obsolete, my favorite player, what has happened?!

 

[silverbullet]

First 50 turns (2000 BC)

Spoiler :

I decided to settle in place, and was happy to see some sheep. With the flood plain and coastal fish this will make a decent bureaucracy capital.

I start building a warrior while researching fishing.
After fishing I switch build to workboat->worker and research mining->bronze working.
Unfortunately bronze doesn't appear in our capital's BFC. On deity, I would be pretty much forced to research archery at this point, but on Immortal I can sustain my defence longer with warriors, especially since we are agressive - with barracks we can get cover to the warriors which gives them decent chance against barbarian archers. I just need to make sure to keep my warriors in groups of 2.

I decide to research animal husbandry next, to improve the sheep and find horses.
My scout gets 2 maps from huts and the sailing tech, and I quickly realize we are on our own island.
If I had more forests on this map I would try the GLH at this point, but it seems a bit risky here, and I prefer to try to win this without depending on the GLH. It has one many games for me already and I want to try to win without it.

I find horses and settle Vienne here:

After AH I research the wheel and agriculture. I didn't go directly for pottery because I want the capital to grow fast so initially I will farm the flood plains. It will also help with the initial whipping in Vienne.
Since we are charismatic, growing high and taking advantage of the whip (after granary) will give us a good production boost.

We meet Hannibal which boosts our research due to +3 trade routes with him in both cities (and also makes me a bit sorry we don't have GLH).

My plan is to research pottery->writing and send a workboat to scout Han's neighbours (I know he has neighbours because I have more EP on him than he has on me).

Pyramids are an option here since we have stone and no happy resources, so it could help, but there isn't a lot of food here to run many specialists. The capital definitely need to work every riverside cottage here, so monarchy might be better.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

To 1 AD - Looking for help!

Spoiler :

I settled in place. I went AH ----> Mining ----> Fishing.

I popped masonry from a hut pretty early and decided to use it to get great wall, which I did since I looked isolated or to meet AIs only through that land bridge to the NE.

Turns out we weren't isolated which prompted me to go for GLH and get that also. This has crippled expansion a bit but we seem to have room and these things might pay off IMO.

Where do I go from here? NOTE: I ACTUALLY GOT SOME EARLY GPs . The first one was a spy which I settled, the second was a scientist which I opted to use to make an academy in the capitol.

Here are some pics:

I'm going currency because I don't want to wait 10 years for it and NO AI SEEMS TO HAVE IT somehow. Civil Service is the goal after that? I obviously need to expand the fill as much of my island as possible in the next segment also. Suggestions/criticism?

View attachment 190306

 

[silverbullet]

TMIT:

Spoiler :

Your situation looks promising. Didn't look at the save though.
Don't go for currency go directly to civil service. with 3 trade routes in every city another one is not your first priority.
Cottage spam this capital and do it NOW. If you need more workers ( I see only 1 in the picture) whip some more.
I would whip more workers before an extra settler. Even if Han settles 1 spot on your island it's not the end of this world. The north is not that great anyway.

After your have enough workers, spam some more coastal cities and research toward education. Oxford in this capital (with stone!!!) with mature cottages will make you a tech leader at which point you can pick your target and the appropriate tech (rifles/ cannons/ cuirassiers/cavalry)

Focus all your EP on one AI (either Han or Monty), and steal some techs from them.
Don't convert to a religion at this stage yet (unless Monty already started warring). The GLH and this great capital guarantees you a tech lead so stay in peace as long as you can.

Trade Monarchy with Joao (you might need to spend 1 turn into it to trade for compass). This is his favourite civic and also Huayna's, so it will keep them at pleased even if you decide to covert to hinduism.

The city with the deer/fish/sheep is a good candidate for globe theatre.

Basically I would say that your science rate is good and will get better with bureacracy and oxford, so what you need is production power. Focus your new cities on production (farm + whipping), make sure to get globe and oxford, and watch the Aztecs and Carthagians collapse in front of your mighty armies.

 

[silverbullet]

Spoiler until turn 93 (550BC)

Spoiler :

I meat a scout from Joao in Han's lands. I also see that Han has enough on his hands, I really hope it's not me.
A turn later, a sigh of relief when I meet Monty and find out that he is already at war with him.

With that in mind, I don't think I will see Han settling my landmass anytime soon. I delay expansion to support a growing economy. I focus on getting pottery->writing and granary->libray in the capital.

Initially I farmed the flood plain in capital to support growth, whipping and running 2 specialists to get an early academy. Now the infrastructure is there and happy cap is reached I am converting it to cottage city.

I settle the southern dear/sheep/fish spot that would make an excellent GP city or globe city, or maybe just a settler/worker maker. After the library is done this city will generate our 2nd great scientist.

I saw that none of the AIs had alphabet, so I researched it myself. I first accumulated some cash and then started deficit research with library.

The AI were quite backwards when I reached Alphabet. They all had only iron working and cheaper techs for me. The best deal I got was iron working and polytheism for Alphabet with Hannibal, so I took it. Polytheism is not so good for WFYABTA, but it's early enough and I didn't meet all the AIs yet, so I could get away with it.

This is the tech status after the trade:

Trade routes here are quite lucrative (+3 each) so currency is definitely a priority.

City overview:
The capital is an ideal commerce city with academy and soon bureaucracy:

Vienne is more focused on farms, to focus on the commerce focus on the capital and get some production via whipping. I will use the rest of the riverside tiles for cottages once it grows larger.

Tolosa will focus on GP production, especially if I choose to run case in the future.

 

[Dirk1302]

Haven't looked at the spoilers yet, i'll certainly play this one, probably somewhere next week.Unfortunately i've much more time in spring/summer than i've now so i haven't got around to this one yet. I'm amazed at the lack of interest so far, is the open game format dead? At least looking at the colonization forum it isn't as if everyone has flocked to that game.

 

[Gliese 581]

Col2 is too flawed in its current state to play anyhow. I haven't had time for any gaming lately.

 

[fugazi]

Col2 . .. .. .. .ing sucks, and this comes from an avid fan ever since it was released oh so many years ago. Utter disappointment still has the best of me whenever the word Colonization comes along

.. and currently I'm dabbling around on emperor level, and getting my ass kicked time and time again. I just peek in here to listen and learn.

 

[Dirk1302]

Hmm i've heard that Col 2 sucked, actually i purchased a copy but haven't got around to playing. Main reason, i thought Col1 was a very weak mirror of civ1 already and the game doesn't seem to have changed that much either while civ4 is significantly better than civ1.

There's just no reason for me to play Col2 while i enjoy civ4 still so much. Seems to me that Col2 is just civX without a tech tree without religion without corps without specialists, without ... etc with only 3 units iirc (soldier,dragoon,cannon) in other words a severely stripped down version of civ. Just my opinion of course.

 

[silverbullet]

Agreed, Col2 sucks. As a proud Canadian I also dislike the American centric theme of the game. Can't we have a game where the loyalists win and rebels lose?

Anyway, let's stop discussing off topic issues in this thread.
The Celtic civilization awaits it's glorious moments in your games. Get to work!

 

[Gliese 581]

100 turns (to 375bc):

Spoiler :

SIP (Settle in Place ) Worker, Fishing
Switch to WB as Fishing is in.

Tech Path: Fishing-> AH-> Mining-> BW-> TW-> Ag-> Masonry-> Sailing-> Pottery-> Writing-> Aesthetics-> Polytheism-> Lit (in progress)

Build in cap: WB, Finish Worker, 2xWarrior, Settler, Worker, Barracks, 2xWarrior, 2xWB(scouts), The Pyramids, Lighthouse, GLH, Granary, Library (in progress).

I discover we're on our own continent but I see outline of Hannibal's culture of the coast early. No need for archery on this kind of land. I go for Pyramids since we have stone before I'm sure if we're alone or not. Then decide to try to get lucky and snag GLH as well, which is a success (complete it 575 bc, pyramids 1040 bc). I should have gone for GLH first and might not have deserved both but fortune favours the greedy.
Open borders with H when writing is in and soon meet Monty. Discover that H is WHEOOHRN. A bit later Monty is also WHEOOHRN. I'm not sure if they're after me or not here but I reckon with copper and horses hooked up it should be no problem, then Monty DOWs H toward the end of the round.
I closed borders with Monty since I can't trade unless I have OB with H but will refuse any war-related demands from here on. I think it likely that I will invade the winner sometime in the future as they have a large nice continent. Especially if H wins as he'll run away otherwise. Presently though, Monty's captured 1 city so he might be on top (though H was WHEOOHRN a fair bit longer).

My two expansions thus far:

I went for Lit despite non-industrous and no marble, with the hopes of spawning a GE to insta-build TGL in Bibracte. Haven't thought much about what to do with specific cities/city slots but Bibracte is food neutral so I'm cottaging it a bit to leverage bureacracy there later.
In any case my economy is obviously in a good position here with GLH trade routes and rep-scientists. What do you think, is this game won? As long as I don't get sloppy it's looking good I think.

 

[Jet]

4000 BC - 175 BC

Spoiler :

4000 In place, Scout/WB/Worker.
3800 Archery (popped)
3800 Fishing
3520 Mining
3000 BW for Slavery, maybe some chopping, and Axes if I needed them. By 3000 the continent was explored, but not Carthage. City plans were:
* cottage the capital
* 6-8 cities, popping scientists from multiple satellites
* Moai + Heroic Epic on the western 2-Clams spot
* Globe Theater somewhere for military
* National Epic on the southeast spot
After seeing the continent, the value of both the GLH and Pyramids were clear, but I decided to research Writing before Masonry, and I can't remember why. I think I might have been pressing Enter too hastily.
2720 Agr
2400 AH
1960 Writing. My exploring WB met Hannibal. I opened borders and the WB started a long clockwise circuit.
1840 founded Vienne (1N of the Sheep). I had just discovered the Horses and figured it would be low-maintenace with good whip production and also able to pop a great person before long. As it turned out, though, I had to use it more for whipping and Settlers, and it didn't pop a great person until great person #5, around 1200 AD.
1720 adopted Slavery
1680 Wheel to move my units around faster, but again I'm not sure why I didn't research Sailing and Masonry earlier. Started Sailing.
1440 Great Lighthouse fell to an unknown, isolated wonder whore.
1400 founded Tolosa (Fish/Copper). It was a bit of a drain, but the purpose was fogbusting, popping a scientist, and grabbing the metal in case I needed it. If a barb city appeared I wanted to be sure I had metal for it. But maybe Horses and the chance of Iron were enough.
1280 Sailing. Finished it just because I had started it, even though the GLH was down.
1040 Masonry
900 Pottery. Then started a trading tech, which (more or less arbitrarily) was Aesthetics rather than Alphabet.
850 Pyramids fell to Cuzco (later captured by Carthage). I wasn't close, with only 75/500 hammers.
650 founded Gergovia (Fish/Sheep/Deer).
550 Aesthetics
425 Polytheism
250 founded Camulodum (Plains hill / river / flood plains). I planned for this to be a production city, maybe with the Globe Theater, although I have not counted the food. I'm not sure why I didn't put this 1N to get another hill. I was leaving the 2-Clam site, planned for Moai+HE, black in an effort to farm a level 4 unit from barbs. That effort never succeeded.
225 Literature. GP #1: Great Scientist in Bibracte. The next turn I met Joao, the only AI with Alphabet, and traded Aesthetics+Poly to him for it. I immediately traded Aesthetics+Poly around for Math, Priesthood, Meditation, and IW. I looked for war bribe opportunities but didn't find any. Hannibal and Monty were Hindu (founded by Monty), and both in war prep. HC and Liz were Buddhist (founded by HC), and Joao was Confucian (founded by himself). Until this point I had no definite plan for the first scientist or research after Literature. I saw no short-term bulb opportunites because the AIs were a little backward. Furthermore, the intercontinental bonus made Currency attractive as the next tech, compared to Code of Laws and then a Philo bulb and earlier Pacifism. Bibracte had mediocre science (50% research slider; 3 cottages; working production instead of scientists to build the Great Library) but I expected to keep my costs lowish and cottage it up more after the GL. So I built an Academy and started Currency.