Immortal University XXXII: Lincoln

TheMeInTeam

If A implies B...
Joined
Jan 26, 2008
Messages
27,995
Hello all and welcome to the Immortal University! This series was started a long time ago to move a group of the forum's players to the next level. Are you ready for the U?

This is the 32nd in the storied series.

We will uphold the university's traditions...smacking down the hapless AI!

Our leader this time around:

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Honest Abe is seriously under-represented in both forum games and as an AI, due to how the game first picks a civ THEN randomly chooses a leader. As with the other American leaders, you get subpar UU/UB (though useful if it goes that far), but solid traits. Work with what you can, at least your starting techs are ok.

Here's the start:

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As usual, this is the first Fractal map I generated. Start is interesting...seafood! But we won't work it all w/o moving. But that might not be desired. Well whatever. Crack that whip.

Huts and Events are off.

Copy and Paste of the doctrine:

To play, just extract the WB save file into your worldbuilder saves directory, then play it. Use custom scenario if you want some extra settings to tickle your fancy. This series was designed for people learning immortal, so most people here will be at that level or trying to attain it, although deity players are welcome also. Hell, if you want to play this on NOBLE, go ahead, but I'm not peeling off the AI bonuses. The intention of this and any other game thread I post is to get better. Play whatever level you need in order to improve. Just remember, there are immortal bonuses and that's not going to change unless you WB edit it.

If you are aspiring IMM+, try to remember to add archery back to the barbs in WB. Every time you don't, a deity AI will kill a kitten, although there are a lot of kittens so it's not the end of the world if you prefer easymode barbs .

I do request people to list their difficulty and speed. In terms of updates, well nobody follows that anyway. Post in the manner you feel comfortable. Typical comparison dates are 1 AD, liberalism, and victory/defeat, as well as any major events. If in doubt, go with that.

The save! View attachment IU XXXII Lincoln.rar
 
OH GOD. Worst start ever in terms of "where to settle" headaches.

I could do it 1NE to grab less food then leave it for city 2 on the warrior or 1S of the warrior.

I might get more confused if I see what's in the fog after moving the warrior 1NW...
 
warrior either s or nw ...
 
Settling 1S has no production. I'd just go in place unless warrior 1NW reveals more interesting tiles. I'll probably run this on gimped deity, although I have to remember to add archery back in.

And at least we have a use for fishing! Although I'm not entirely convinced that WB first is optimal here since it's not fish.
 
Imm/Normal-350AD

Spoiler :


Well not to sure how this one is going to work out. No early happies around doesn't help although the land is quite good food wise so I guess some people are going to play this a lot better than me. No religion founded on our land although I will try and bulb philo. Will have to probably anyway for trading.

Anyway I decided to settle in place once I saw the extra fish to the South for another city and set out to explore. Grabbed New York for the horses and to help block some land. Later found Iron there as well which is a bonus. Third city for the corn and horse.
Perhaps it would have been an idea to chariot rush Stalin? Anyway I decided to play peacefully (like I usually do :)) and grab some of the land

Tech path I started on mining/bw/AH and later on with the marble I decided to go for the GLib. Managed to just build that and the Parthenon. Had a message back in 150AD that Notre Dame was built so someone had engineering a long while ago. :eek: As you can see there a lot more advanced than my island.

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All my EP is on Stalin so perhaps I might be able to steal something off him. When I get Alpha that is.

Current Lands.

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Nowhere else to settle so looks like I'll need to try to expand through Stalin then WK and take over the whole island for myself. Just not sure yet how to do this. :lol:
 
I'm not going to waste the hill by settling sw. A city on the tundra get the fourth clam. It may well be our Moai site. Premature to decide about GLH.
 
Please CFC, grant me a way out of this mess I made. Someone has been jinxing these forum games for me, don't even remember the last time I've lost 2 Immortal games in a row. Or maybe that LHC Willem counts just as a random-event-surprise-buttsechs-game instead of a loss. That's what I keep saying to myself at least :mischief:

Immortal/Normal, to 1390AD:

Spoiler :

So I settled in place and saw Stalin nearby, so decided to block him off by 2 cities. New York has nada production but there's always the whip. Also planning on caste workshops later.

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About right away Stalin and WK went worst enemy on each other. Now you might think this is a good thing, but it means they demand me to do stuff every other turn. Annoying. I decided to go Alpha too before this happened so my trading was kinda limited. Then I noticed the Marble and went Parth + TGL which I got.

No religion on my island so I decided to try bulb Philo, which I missed by 3 turns. I was even thinking about Divine Right, but some nutjob took that in the 300AD's. WK and Stalin started warring, which suited me fine I guess. Stalin was horribly backwards in tech. I doublebulbed Edu and was planning on taking Nat with Lib -> Taj for civic changes to FR.

Then everything went to hell in a handbasket. WK and Stalin made peace, and the next turn Stalin DoWed me - no weehorn at all. Isn't even the goddamn dagger supposed to have a turn of weehorn? Would have saved me, my main garrison army was in Boston, 2½ turns away from New York. Stalin attacked New York, with a distance of 2 turns. Oh, but surely my other plans make up for this sudden need to go back to Slavery and delay Oxford for 200 years? Well... let's just say that on the turn of this next picture, my spirits weren't very high at all. Never been more tempted to reload in my life.

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So I threw my nation in the trash to be able to secure New York back. Stalin, that m&#¤$#¤f#¤@#€r, kept refusing to talk, I guess because his war wasn't going bad at all. New York changed hands some 5 times, and when he finally agreed to talk, I had to give him 6(!) techs for peace.

After this Pacal comes to say hi, being a dozen techs ahead. Grrrr - still have an axe to grind with this guy from previous forum games. I limp to Optics to go say hi to the rest, and I'm naturally Monte's worst enemy from first contact. Ragnar isn't too fond of me either.

So, I finally got Astro (50% tech boost) and Constitution (75% tech boost) and am finally able to build Oxford soon (50% tech boost). I guess I have to try to reach Cavs before Stalin pounds me into pulp and whoop his ass. Going after Monte next is an option as well I guess. I'm not too hopeful on winning this anyway, though. Comments and public ridicule is welcome at this point (I know there's small micro crappiness everywhere, I'm lazy) ;) Except don't criticize my cottages. I like cottages. :crazyeye:

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Attachments

IMM/Normal...

Thus begins a game from hell (Good start for me, got complacent, nearly lost, finally pulled a bleak game out after 4 hours). So many screenies I have to split posts.

1 AD

Spoiler :


With livestock, we tech AH. Oooops, there's the rape rush resource, and I couldn't help but heading in on stalin (who was met turn 4).

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@#$% stupid @#%@# archer spam @#$@#.

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But I know better. I don't attack that. I blow right by it, kill whatever archers I see in the field, and just take his perimeter cities. I keep 2, raze 1. Monuments and later libraries are priorities in these cities (I got them so fast they quickly had more of my culture than russian!)

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So after that I bang out some workers/settler and use cottages to start footing the bill. Without any strategic resources stalin isn't going to DoW for a long, long time. I finish blocking him from expanding in my direction (literally at all) and also block wang reaonably although I probably did TOO much damage to stalin (shouldn't have razed his northern city, slowed him too much).

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My "chariots" wonder kept me from doing anything that resembles economy, so cottages are the only path. Well with some GP farming. I'm biding my time for alphabet here...

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To liberalism failure. Round world failure too.

Spoiler :


Hooray for getting alphabet...when some players get education...

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And I get spanked to lib of course.

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Teching to trade, heading for democracy. Obviously going to kill an utterly crippled russia (trebs/mace/horse archer).

Beat to circumnavigation, too.



Things hit the fan...

Spoiler :


Time for WAR

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I take all but that NW barb city. I don't take cap to keep diplo OK (it will also prevent AI-AI caps)...but mostly I don't want to hand wang yet another city, this time via culture flip rather than beating the crap out of his neighbor.

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Democracy + emancipation + 16 cities is a pretty good catch up job. In fact this game would have been pretty easy until...

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Damn it! Why? He didn't hate me more than willem and I didn't refuse demands. Damn it damn it damn it.

I buy out, but not before he pillages all my damned seafood, right as I start running sushi.

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AI infighting is pretty severe, but we have TWO culture whores (pacal and willem) and wang is starting to run away in tech...then pacal vassals peacefully to willem.

Effing terrific.

 
And on to a 1979 AD UN win. Yes, seriously. 1979.

Spoiler :


Damnation...

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D'oh!

One consolation is that I pick up internet...and you can tell the only person who tried to research anything this game.

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Ok. First things first. UN bans nukes (I ban nukes, that is) before anyone builds manhattan (pacal built UN by the way, and I thought I'd win if he did but didn't have enough votes between korea + willem). I go after both culture whores first on a LONG shot (I have to raze 1 culture city of each willem and pacal while being at war with both, and all of willem's are inland)

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First I take mutal with CR III tanks and BURN it. IIRC the AI is hard coded to give up culture if it loses its capitol this way. Anyway that problem is out of the way. I proceed to sail to the vikings, unload tanks in one of his cities, wrap around and sneak-suicide shot at an inland culture city. Amazingly, the gambit works and I even have a lot of tanks left over. With that problem largely out of the way...

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I have to deal with the guy who has every tech possible.

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This game just won't let it be easy for me...

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But screw him. Over the course of 2 wars (the 2nd to regroup and get gunships to deal with MA (already had sames/Marty). I rip away any hope of any kind of victory from wang. Suck it.

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I left him a desert island city with almost no hammers, just because it would be funny to let mr. super tech sit there, with half a space ship, unable to ever do a damned thing about completing it. Haha!

Compared to korea, the aztecs are utterly backwards and willem isn't THAT close to culture...

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I tear through him like he's butter and cap him.

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I then go after Willem, stuffing a culture city one last time...but wait, monty was ALSO going culture? This after having to raze cities for 2 different AIs because their #3 was over 40k? I'd captured cristo redentor so at least forced monty to hug nationhood with me. However it didn't take long to burn some coastal cities and capture some of willem's other ones. The war never ended because

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I came back several times to win this one. Fighting off a surprise (and unusual) DoW and multiple victory attempts was annoying and fun at the same time.

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Well, it's a win, no matter how crappy. At least I didn't LOSE to it this time, so I'm getting better...slowly.
 
-1645AD

Spoiler :


Carrying on from where I left off. Managed to catch up quite well in tech by bulbing Edu and getting Oxford up. Also managed to be the first around the world. Probably runner up in the Lib stakes as Wil got there just before me so as planned I went for draft rifles and to attack Stalin down the line. With a few detours and bribing Rag to stop his war against Wil I bribed Stalin into war against WK. Leaving me the way open a couple of turns later to declare on Stalin myself.

Moscow. If I can get some more GPs this will come in handy.

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Went on to take another couple of his cities and.

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Some where along the way Monte declared on me but after sinking a galleon and not seeing any of his units he took peace for 100. I think both he and Ragnar will attack Wil very soon which will mean the end for him as I'm not going to bail him out. Or I might bribe Rag to stop if possible.

Tech situation.

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Not so bad. I stopped here as I think I should go straight for WK once my troops are in place. Look to take his capital and capitulate him whilst I'm up infantry on him. Pretty certain this is not going to go to space and a big war with Monte/Ragnar is on the cards down the line. :)
 

Attachments

I'm kind of having minor dificulties with opening the save. I save it as a rar file into my worldbuilder saves and start up civ but its not in my worldbuilder saves. I have been able to play zip files before. Can someone help me?
 
I'm kind of having minor dificulties with opening the save. I save it as a rar file into my worldbuilder saves and start up civ but its not in my worldbuilder saves. I have been able to play zip files before. Can someone help me?

Not keen on winrar myself. :) What I did was open the save then extract to bts public maps. Then played the game as a scenario.
 
Fark. I hate this map. Gimped deity ~700ish AD.

Spoiler :

Settled in place, was expanding decently although I messed up my tech order going writing before pottery. Bad habit when I'm philosophical, as I totally forgot to pay the bills. I got some great city sites, and Stalin's been boxed in pretty bad. The problem is that Wang is big (18% or so), and that'll cause problems in the long term as his land is fairly green.

And to make it worse, Wang goes WHEEOH. I hope it's not me (auto-loss at that point since I have nothing to stop his stack of 10 hwachas), and continue teching. He declares on Stalin, but then quickly stomps over him. I had to bribe him to peace giving him philo, compass, and drama (last two teched for bribing techs) to avoid him from capping Stalin. I'll need to take Stalin eventually and I can't have him be Wang's vassal at that point.

So this is where I am. I do have a religion, but my empire is not teching well (late cottages). It also didn't help that Stalin is one of the few AI that doesn't trade at cautious, leaving me "isolated" with Wang in effect. And he didn't tech alphabet so I had to tech it myself in the early AD to open up trading :mad:

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Stalin is teching slowly, so I should be able to take his cities with a renaissance war. Of course I'll have to trade out the nose for iron but oh well. I may just go spy/rifle on him instead of cannons or mounted as I lack iron right now. Wang, I'll have to take down late game as I'll need a good base to take him on. Islam went around the 300 AD's so there may be a culture whore out there, making things harder. I saw a few GG's as well so I can only keep my fingers crossed that they didn't cap anyone.

 
- 1880AD

Spoiler :


I decided it was best to carry on and attack WK. So the war horns blew again. I didn't face any real problems as I worked my way to Seoul. Always good to see the AI get there priorities right.

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Still I wasn't complaining. :lol:

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Not a bad little haul. So capitulated WK. Next aim Monte. I was bribing Rag to stop his wars against Wil but let Monte carry on fighting whilst giving Wil tech/resources in his fight.

Once I had built a few transports I declared on Monte. Took his capital.

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Then his capitulation. He did give me Amsterdam in the peace treaty as well.

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There was no need to fight Wil as during our joint war with Monte.

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A voluntary vassal.

Now for the Vikings. I didn't expct any trouble there either. I killed his SOD took a couple of cities. When.

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This is the first time I have had a civ with a vassal, vassal to me. So Pacal broke away. I didn't think he fancied the fight much.

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Leading to.

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I did manage to drop Monte/Ragnar's power down a bit.

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Thanks for hosting this TMIT. :goodjob:
 
Immortal/Normal, to 1930AD:

Again, personal apologies to DaveMcW in particular for my clock coloring, I suck at getting customassets based mod settings saved.

Spoiler :

So I was left with a thrice-whipped nation and no Lib with a half-assed plan to conquer Stalin with Cavalry if I get there in time. I made my way up to Cuirassiers, while WK and Stalin warred. About 3 turns after I finish Rifling, Stalin capitulates to WK. Sigh. I tried to bribe WK to peace but couldn't do it without giving him Rifling, which I sure didn't want to do.

So I aim my EP towards WK to see his Rifling-schedule. He was doing Physics, then after that...Communism! Yes! I DoW right away and chip away at his somewhat antiquated SoD and continue towards the Korean heartlands to get what I can before he gets Rifles:

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After he finished Communism, I hold my breath again. Electricity! Yes! Poor WK sealed his downfall with that decision. I capture almost all of his good cities, but then I notice something: Stalin is 8 turns away from Rifling, so I take capitulation from WK and refocus on Stalin instead. I had the full workshop gloria at this point with Caste+SP (got Communism next turn from WK).

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Well, Stalin never got closer than 7 turns to Rifling, because I kept knocking down his cities as he tried desperately to file those barrels to make his bullets spin. I capitulate him as well, didn't bother to finish him off.

How's the other continent doing, you might ask? Hasn't WvO already won cultural? Well as it turned out, Monte ravaged WvO pretty badly and was working on Pacal, when he peacevassaled to Ragnar. This left me free to do whatever I please, and was the real reason I managed to pull this game off. Monte bought Civil Service from me at 1725AD. I have no idea how he terrorized his whole damn continent. Here's a shot of his...eccentric tech path. Rocketry before Education? What the f"#¤???

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So my options were grueling tedium in the form of going to bonk some heads on the other continent, or just going to space, which I ended up doing. Call me boring if you wish. I knew Monte was going to DoW before I head off, which he dutifully did. That war must be the most tedious I've ever had in relation to its length. He had dozens of goddamn Destroyers destroying my fishing nets and didn't speak in AGES. Finally he sent some transports over which I sunk to get him to speak.

Here was the brunt of my research for most of the game:

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And the end. The statistics screen must be the funniest I've ever seen. I actually laughed out loud when I saw my "built" column there :lol:

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Continuing gimped deity, 1500 AD

Spoiler :

I continued teching towards cuirassiers and cavalry. I double bulbed education and picked up nationalism from liberalism. I had a spare GE so I rushed the Taj in a border city. This helped a lot, as I ended up picking up the iron from the culture battle. This allowed me to build cuirassiers, although I soon teched to cavalry (Stalin kindly traded me PP and RP :lol:). Once I had a small stack ready, I attacked Stalin. The start of the war was slow, as he actually had a real SoD that I hadn't noticed earlier. I lost a small border city but took it back, then soon started to steam roll him with cavalry. He was teching VERY slow - I think it was the combination of mercantilism + shopping over all his cottages. So I had plenty of time to capture most of his cities.

The catapults I picked up from whipping the globe via catapult overflow were used to bombard Moscow while I used spies (from the EP slider) on the hill cities and 60% cities. Not efficient but it was better than suiciding cavalry. Moscow had a nice haul:

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I took all but an off shore island, as I didn't want to vassal him. I had met Ragnar and Monty by then, so I didn't want to deal with messy endgame diplo from having a crappy vassal. I'll finish him off once I build some boats. In the meantime, I'm actually contemplating a brief war against Wang to take a couple of his border cities and cut him down in size. He's about double my power right now but I scouted his land and he doesn't have much of a SoD as far as I can tell. I think I have a very small window before he picks up rifles, and I can buy peace with astro if I need to.

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I haven't met Willem yet but it looks like Monty and Ragnar are ganging up on him, which isn't good news. I need to make contact so that I can make sure Monty doesn't start capping his continent.

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stats after Russian war:
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Kind of amazed at the lack of casualties. I think having level 3-4 mounted really helped, and I cut his iron pretty early so he just fielded gunpowder units (pinch!).

 
Slog to the finish, 1880 diplomatic.

Spoiler :

Not a whole lot to report really. I finished off Stalin once I got some boats and did a quick raid on Wang to grab 3 of his cities. He tried an amphibious assault on one of my border cities that failed, so even though he had double my power he gave me gold for peace :lol: Monty then declared on him and I quietly built up my empire for tanks.

With tanks, I declared again, then got flight and took cities from the west first then heading to the capital. By the time I took Seoul, Willem had completed the UN. Great! Now I don't have to go finish off all the other AI, as Monty is pleased with me and likely to vote for me. I adopt police state and bribe him to switch for good measure, then just hit enter.

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If that failed, I was going to kill Wang, then Ragnar followed by Pacal.

Some stats:

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Two thoughts: 1) the mall is a pretty good late game building with the extra :) and 2) Wang's low unit build rate really helps on this map. He delayed rifling and AL for a long time, making him more vulnerable than he should have been.
 
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