King of the World #16: Julius Caesar

[es4]

I had taken out France and Spain by about turn 90, and that was a bit sub-optimal in build/military strategy. I got the incredibly useful Tower Shield event, though, which countered that.

A few notes:
1) It will take longer to tech iron working than it will to build 2 work boats, a worker, and barracks. You want to emphasize commerce somewhat, or you will be stuck spamming warriors or building a second worker instead of praets.
2) For some reason, neither France nor Spain settled the second city initially. Once I captured Paris, Izzy did settle Barcelona on the site of Bibracte.
3) Thanks to Alex declaring on Frederick on turn 96 and suiciding a stack on Berlin, I was able to take both it and Hamburg by turn 104. He had 2 other cities and I left Berlin open, so I had to take peace.
4) I might have been better off attacking Greece first, although I doubt I could have done it before he got phalanxes hooked up. Praets aren't great by themselves against axemen, and you can't use chariots to counter them with Greece (that assumes you have conquered France/Spain and have AH).

Anyhow, Cyrus somehow has 11 cities in 1175 BC; and Qin has the Pyramids and the GLH, so I doubt my game will be a walk-over. I suspect you will see some very powerful AIs as well.

 

[Silu]

If you settle in place can't you get access to the iron without the wheel as both are on the Tigris river????

Yeah, afterwards you can sail down that river to conquer Persia!

Will definitely be interesting how things turn out after Europe has been purged

 

[Fleme]

To be honest, if you want to make the best of your limited terrain, settle 2N1W. Capital with extreme production capabilities and it blocks off the rest of Italy so you can settle an additional city there before your praet romp. Second city would be placed 1SE of your original settler.

That's how I'd do it.

 

[Lone Wolf]

To be honest, if you want to make the best of your limited terrain, settle 2N1W.

That'd be Mediolanum (Milan).

 

[mtrein]

I look forward to this very much.

Advice? None from me. You have had plenty of reasonable ones already

 

[JoeHollywood]

I played the first 75 turns based on my previous post and thought I'd put the general gist of what I did.

Spoiler :

T0-settle in place-BW Tech-WB build-Size1 work marble hill
T8-culture pops-switch tile back to marble hill
T11-switch tile to wheat to maximize food on last turn of WB
T12-WB on fish-build 2nd WB-switch tile to fish
T16-Grow to size 2-switch tiles to marble hill+forrest hill
T22-Change forrest hill to wine forrest tile
T23-WB on clam-build worker-work 2 seafood tiles
T24-Sparta settles 2E1NE of Cap ( this is what I want to target )
T28-Tech IW-Do NOT switch civics
T35-Worker to iron hill-build barracks
T36-Build mine
T40-Grow to size 3-3rd tile is wheat
T45-Grow to size 4-4th tile is wine
T46-Mine done-switch wine tile to mine tile
T47-Move worker S
T48-Build mine
T50-Switch wheat to marble hill
T51-Grow to size 5-Tile 5 is forrest hill
T52-Build settler-switch tile from hill to wine
T53-Switch wine to to new mine
T54-Move worker to marble hill
T55-Build Mine
T60-Settler Done-move settler to hut tile-buile warrior-switch clam to forrest hill
T61-IW done-wheel
T62-Starting First Prae
T64-Settle antium-build WB there-use rome warrior to protect
T65-Mine done
T66-Move worker to forrest hill-Prae2-Greece has phalanx in sparta...changing strat to go after france-move prae NW
T67-Declare war-build mine
T75-Paris is mine, france is gone, turning towards spain!

Here's the save if anyone wants it ( I ignored special events and didn't take long term benefits because I didn't want my build order to be off.

View attachment romedeity.CivBeyondSwordSave Here's the save if anyone wants it

 

[Neal]

Julius Caesar surveyed the landscape, and found it to be good. Clams offered up their precious payloads on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, and Fish swam in the waters of the Ligurian Sea. Wheat swayed at the north end of the peninsula, and the rocky Appenines to the south whispered promises of powerful Production to come.

And so, as had been spoken in the prophecies, Rome was founded on the banks of the Tiber River:



The doughty Roman Warriors trudged north in search of glory, but they were beaten to the surrounding minor tribes in the Balkans by the Greeks, and in Scandinavia by the Germans. They nevertheless gained discipline by fighting the beasts of the field (an incursion of Wolves and, if reports are to be believed, a full Regiment of Bears!) before returning home to quell revolts and bring order to the Eternal City.

As you can see, gathering Fish to feed our people and delving into the secrets of metallurgy were our first order of business.

Soon, Rome was, if not one of the foremost empires of the ancient world, certainly a prosperous minor city-state nestled amongst them:



Knowing that the inscrutable gods of wind, wave, and Difficulty Setting frowned upon the upstart Romans, Caesar ruefully decided that harsh measures would need to be taken in order to survive and prosper amongst the titans that surrounded him. He nevertheless promised that the whip would be used only sparingly, and only in service to the greater needs of the population. The Romans, though, were a sturdy, blunt lot, and bought these flowery words not for a second. They promptly threw the city into Anarchy.

Sparta was founded uncomfortably close to Rome in 3250 B.C.:



To celebrate the city's founding, Catherine's ambassador to Athens suggested a celebratory feast of Borsht and Gyros. Seeking a stronger bond between his people and the Russians, Alexander agreed, but found the beetroot soup so profoundly vile that he ordered the emissary killed on the spot. Needless to say, Catherine was not amused, and heightened tensions now exist between the two nascent empires.

As Rome closed in on the Age of the Praetorian (notice the working of the Coastal tiles to (over?)emphasize Commerce), we received an interesting boon:



With Praetorians as our primary, secondary, and tertiary weapons, I don't know how many Axemen we'll be building, though they might come in handy in dislodging Alexander's pesky Phalanxes in an attack on Greece.

By 2550 B.C. (Turn 58, not too bad), the preparations were complete, and it was time for Rome to start pumping out the soldiers that would make her famous:



Being a somewhat cautious sort, Caesar decided to hold off on war until he had an overwhelming force of Praetorians. Protracted wars, with supply lines of troops shuffling to the front, could be tedious.

Rome's military commanders agreed:



12 Praetorians? As a military-minded Rome? Yes, please. My only question is, is it worth delaying our buildup to get Hereditary Rule? If someone has the quest writeup, I'd appreciate it.

Shortly thereafter, Cyrus came by looking to trade:



He's willing to offer up Hunting and (Wheel or Agriculture) for Bronze Working. Which is the better deal? Or should we simply pass altogether, in fear of WFYABTA? Since our Praetorian force is nearly complete, I figured this'd be a good time to stop.

Our interactions with the Persians aren't necessarily all good:



As you can see, Cyrus has a band of Warriors sneaking through to the natives in Sicily. We can bounce him by Closing Borders, or beat him to the punch with a Warrior. What do you all recommend? And what should our target be? Greece has Phalanxes, and so will be a fairly tough target (unless we get some Shock Axemen rolling). Paris seems the obvious target, followed by Madrid. Oddly enough, neither Louis nor Isabella seem to have used their second Settlers yet. *shrug* More free Workers for us, I guess.

Anyway, here's the save:

 

[r_rolo1]

Quest12:
	Elite Swords
	Prereq: IRON_WORKING AND State Religion
	Obsolete: MACHINERY or FEUDALISM or MUSIC or PHILOSOPHY or CIVIL_SERVICE or THEOLOGY
	Active/Weight: 25/200
		Aim:
		Build default number of players for this world size +1 Swordsmen (8 for standard)
		Result:
1.All Swordsman units gain the City Raider 1 promotion
2.All Melee units gain the Drill 1 promotion

IIRC HR opens the second option ( last time I had this quest was ages ago... )

So, let me see... ALL the Preatorians you build after those 12 getting CR I from the start .... CR II with 2 XP , CR III with 5 XP ... nah, bad idea Seriously, this is probably the best quest you could have given what you want to do in this game and the civ you have in hands

P.S You don't have state religion ... had this event prereqs changed ? *scratch head*

 

[Jaaboo]

Sweeeet KOTW is back.

 

[UWHabs]

If you're going to try to beat him to the punch, send a Praet. At least then if you happen to unlock the experience, then it'll help more.

Another thing - I'd bring along one or 2 axes as stack defense. They're cheaper than Praets, so are still useful.

But otherwise, run to get those 12 praets, and don't promote anyone to CR1 yet. Hmm, 12 is a lot to get, but plan to get #12 right before attacking a city. Then you'll have a super strong force to steal some Wonders, a holy city, and lots of sweet sweet land.

 

[r_rolo1]

Another thing - I'd bring along one or 2 axes as stack defense. They're cheaper than Praets, so are still useful.

Especially when they have shock for free Seriously, Neal, can you borrow me your RNG ?

 

[Neal]

re: Elite Swords- Yeah, I looked through the Events guide and saw that. I thought that it couldn't have been it with the State Religion requirement. *shrug* So I asked.

re: RNG- Hmph. This one's actually kind of disappointing. I did a "dry run" of the first round (i.e., no screenshots), and picked up the Black Pearls event and spawned Gold in the Plains Hill south of the Iron. AND the hut in Sicily spawned Masonry! AARRGHH! Ah, well. That would have been a little too easy, methinks.

re: The Future- Erk. I know this is a little cheaty, but it looks like we've got a Slave Revolt on the way. And with only Rome as a city, it looks like it's gonna throw us into a troop strike. Advice? Get out of Slavery? Dial down Research to build up a nest egg? Suck it up and lose a Praet?

 

[Shoot the Moon]

I'd take the trade for hunting and agri and not wait for monarchy for the quest (although drill melee units are certainly interesting...)

I'd also just straight up beat Cyrus. There is a chance that if you close borders now he could get bounced to the SE instead of the NE (I'm not really certain on bouncing mechanics, but I believe they will be bounced towards the city they were made from, which would be somewhat SE of you).

 

[mfie]

re: Elite Swords- Yeah, I looked through the Events guide and saw that. I thought that it couldn't have been it with the State Religion requirement. *shrug* So I asked.

re: RNG- Hmph. This one's actually kind of disappointing. I did a "dry run" of the first round (i.e., no screenshots), and picked up the Black Pearls event and spawned Gold in the Plains Hill south of the Iron. AND the hut in Sicily spawned Masonry! AARRGHH! Ah, well. That would have been a little too easy, methinks.

re: The Future- Erk. I know this is a little cheaty, but it looks like we've got a Slave Revolt on the way. And with only Rome as a city, it looks like it's gonna throw us into a troop strike. Advice? Get out of Slavery? Dial down Research to build up a nest egg? Suck it up and lose a Praet?

Just let it revolt to balance the fact that you got those two nice events

 

[Nares]

re: The Future- Erk. I know this is a little cheaty, but it looks like we've got a Slave Revolt on the way. And with only Rome as a city, it looks like it's gonna throw us into a troop strike. Advice? Get out of Slavery? Dial down Research to build up a nest egg? Suck it up and lose a Praet?

Play it as it's meant to be played, and build a nest egg.

Perhaps you'll get gold from the hut to the south, solving the problem.

You'll need to beat Cyrus there, I think. Closed borders may very well bounce him towards it, rather than away.

 

[Fetch]

I'd get out of slavery. you don't want revolts to spoil the party before it gets going.

 

[r_rolo1]

Well, after a quick glance on the save....

- As stated above, do the possible to fulfill the quest ASAP

- Hatty already has two people having her as worst enemy, saladin and Alex She also has Alex as worst enemy . The middle East will probably boil by it self without your intervention

- Well, as a reminder , the Deity goody hut handicap:

<Goodies>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_MAP</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_WARRIOR</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_SCOUT</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_EXPERIENCE</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_HEALING</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_TECH</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_TECH</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_WEAK</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_WEAK</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</GoodyType>
		<GoodyType>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</GoodyType>
</Goodies>

Deity has a awful chance of popping a good deal of barb warriors, so if you want to pop it now, take a preatorian instead of a warrior... free XP ...

About expeling the Persian warrior....

Spoiler :

The warrior went to a place I didn't expected: 2 S 1 E of Sparta, in that forest where the greek archer is

Anyone can say to me where is the code for this?

Anyway, if possible let the border pop take the hut out... far more likely to get good results.

On strategy: France, Spain, whip galley in paris, England, Germany And tech Alpha in between ....

 

[weekend_warrior]

I'd send some praets down to pop the goody hut, no need to risk relations with cyrus.

I just noticed this, is that french city right on top of the pigs? on top of PIGS?! Thats insane!

Hard choice for who to attack first. My gut says Spain will be the easier target, and it should give time for France to build a wonder. But I don't play Earth18 enough to know everyones tendency's.

That was an awesome first round btw. What a perfect quest! For a deity game this is shaping up very nicely.

 

[r_rolo1]

The disband code makes less likely the disband of lowly promoted units IIRC .... given that your better promoted unit is a warrior, I would not risk to lose a preat like that. That or you can put a unit in auto-explore for 1 turn to eat some of the RNG results

 

[Silu]

If you only have 1 city and the hut is within a distance of 7 from the capital (as it is here, right?) popping a hut with any unit is like popping it with a Scout. So no barbs and a very high probability of popping a tech (1/6, highest of all except for Settler).