Lonely Hearts Club, BTS Edition, Chapter VII: Darius

[r_rolo1]

Welcome to the Seventh edition of the Lonely Hearts Club for BTS. In the Lonely Hearts Club we explore strategies to cope with one of the most dreaded situations in Civ IV ( possibly the main reason for reloads after the military collapse one ): starting in isolation....

For the seventh game in BTS the choosed leader was Darius of the Persian :

Spoiler :

Well, after two Philo leaders in a row, a lot of people ( including myself ) wanted to make a CE game again, and certainly Darius is a good leader for that... Fin is a nobrainer and Org too.... Btoh very strong traits in any map, and Fin in isolation is a pretty strong asset
His UU.

Spoiler :

It is a pure and simple waste to put one of the best UU in the game in isolation..... the S man simply discarted that possibility when choosing maps for his Cyrus ALC. But they to good MP units.....
His UB.

Spoiler :

As I said ( and a lot of others too.... ) a lot of times, is one of the more limiting issues when playing in isolation ( we can get even with HR but we can't buy health.... ), so having a UB that gives it is always nice.....
So, here is the settings( from emperor save ). Game is Fractal :

Spoiler :

And the start:

Spoiler :

3 FP in the starting BFC with a fin civ ..... , a nice chunck of trees, two rivers ( for extra money and levee power ) and a health resource nearby ( in spite of being sheep ).... Looks a very decent start IMHO

About saves: As usual, pick the level you prefer in the end of the post. Deity save is in the next post.

Again a small request ( not mandatory ) :

We ask the participants to do, if possible, a write-up with the victory save and a description of your game ( strategies, techs researched, wars,...). All the info should be in spoiler tags ( to not disturb other people's games ). If you want ( we would like to ) post reports at this moments of the game:

Checkpoint 1 - when we have explored the island and are aware of what resources it has. Its not so important when this is, but this is a time to discuss city sites etc. Don't look into a checkpoint 1 spoiler until you have reached this point yourself.

Checkpoint 2 - first contact - when we have met all the other AIs. At this point we can discuss our strategy to get to this point and our plans for dealing with them.

Checkpoint 3 - when we are committed to a victory condition (or at least think we are).

Checkpoint 4 - Victory (or defeat).

The last words are to wish good luck to all . And let the games begin!

P.S We don't have any kind of problem with defeats and reruns. Just play and enjoy

 

[r_rolo1]

Deity save below

P.S Any kind of problem with the saves plese tell me

 

[Diamondeye]

Looks like a nice start. Definately settle in place and grab hut first turn - as an isolated financial civ, I'd say beeline for pottery and Cottagespam, cottagespam, COTTAGESPAM!

 

[endymion]

Hi this is the first event in wich i will be partisipating(do i write it like this?) looks like a fun game. i will try it on prince difficulty i just came from noble and this will be my second prince game. my first i won an pretty easy conquest victory(my highest score ever ) u will see my report soon.

regards
Endymion aka Tim

 

[r_rolo1]

Welcome, endymion .... Hope you enjoy it

 

[Giaur]

I see these series are attracting to the players. Maybe i'll give a shot too.

 

[r_rolo1]

You're most welcomed, Giaur. A good player like you is always a good addiction to any open game

 

[Kennigit]

Immortal, checkpoint 1/extra

Spoiler :

Started off well. Founded in place, went work-warrior-warrior-warrior-settler IIRC, starting the settler at pop 4. Research started out w/ animal husbandry->mining->BW and also got mysticism and horseback riding from huts. I debated a long time about where to place my cities, but I think what I ended up with works great.

View attachment 163837
At 1AD, the turn after I discovered Civil service. After getting BW I beelined pottery and then went for monarchy->writing->CoL->civil service or currency->(civil service). Founded confucianism and have an academy in my capital.

View attachment 163838
Where I left off, after discovering Liberalism. I would have put it off, but running pacifism w/ hereditary rule was hurting me so I wanted to make the switch to free speech/free religion for free. I plan to make 1 more city with the stone and clam at the far end, but for now I am going to printing press then probably democracy. Great People wise, Susa got 2 more scientists, one who made an academy in parsagaede (sp.) and one who started the golden age. Gordium is working on another scientist, who might come to pop printing press or be saved for another golden age (maybe w/ economics).

In the future, I'd like to go for a spacerace but I don't have very many cities and not very high production. This means I'll probably end up having to wage an oversea war with another AI, hopefully one who is also Isolated (I don't know fractal maps). All I need is a few more semi-good cities for casings/thrusters and 1 or 2 production powerhouses (possibly enemy capital) for engines.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Immortal, checkpoint 1/extra

Looks a lot like my start, except at a higher level and faster. Damn....

Can you describe your reasons for the placement of Gordium? I dismissed that location in favor of an alternative placement, and wonder how our logic differed.

 

[pawelo]

Reporting for duty on Monarch!
Let the floodplains flowerish asap

 

[pawelo]

Darius 1st of the Persia, Monarch, Checkpoint 1

Spoiler :

Forty turns, and the whole "world" is known
And what a bunch of crappy land it has.
Well, not everything is that bad, there is some nice seafood, plus pig, wheat, cow & sheep - the health won't be an issue, we have bronze and horses, stone for Notre Dame . Still happiness is low - only incense...
Immortals will be useless here, still it's nice to have them for future wars (not the Immortals, the horses).

So here we go, mr Darius is Financial and Organized, starting with Hunting and Agriculture. Agriculture opens the AH for the sheep, but I decide otherwise.

After settling in place, I start a worker.

Tech-path - POTTERY! Those floodplains call for cottaging.
Wheel and Pottery further, our worker is ready. I start a warrior for a small fog-busting duties.

Hut-popping could be better - some experiance, little gold and two maps (one of which reveals parts of, hmmm, what was supposed to stay unknown until very late

On turn forty, we have two floodplain hamlets (+4 gold) and one cottage (hamlet in 5), all worked by Persepolis. The second worker is almost done, and I just revolted to slavery.

After Pottery I went for AH to connect the sheep and reveal horses. Then it was time to discover Mining and BW.

With two workers and some pre-chopping, it's time to get the Priesthood path for Oracle and CoL. We're organized aren't we ? And an extra happy from religion is never a bad idea while isolated.

Once Persepolis will pop 4, I will start a Settler for cow/horse or river/wheat spot south-east of the capital.

Some dotmapping of the known world ( note - there are some crappy cities too and the Paint isn't the best tool to work images ):

Spoiler :

Impatient to get to Checkpoint 2!

Thanks for this challenge r_rolo1! Goddamn I love financial.

 

[Giaur]

Immortal. 1st and 2nd checkpoint ...

1st ...

Spoiler :

Worker -> Warrior -> Warrior -> Settler.
Moved settler 1N.

Research path: AH -> Wheel -> Pottery -> Mysticism -> Meditation -> Priesthood -> Mining -> BW -> Writing -> Fishing -> CoL (Oracle) -> Monarchy -> Sailing -> Masonry -> Poly -> Mono -> Math -> Metal Casting -> Civil Service -> Teology -> Machinery -> Currency -> IW -> Compass -> Calendar -> Optics -> Paper -> Astronomy
I wonder why machinery was researched before Currency. Nevermind.

Being isolated could mean that we should aim for religion quickly. Both for happiness and civics. So I constructed oracle in a horse city. I was wondering what to do with great prophet. I had even a choice what great person get first: scientist or prophet. I decided on the second one but he only was settled (in a capital to get forge quickly and help constructing Apostolic Palace). Around 400BC (maybe earlier) I managed to discover my continent..

2nd ...

Spoiler :

Scientist was born in next 16 turns and found academy in a capital. Completed Apostolic Palace for production and Collosus for commerce. But traits were so strong that the last wonder became obsolete pretty quickly. Great people were appering slowly under OR. Missed Hanging Gardens and Mausoleum. I missed Philosophy, so I decided to go for Astronomy, not Liberalism. Now I am aiming for UoS, because many religious buildings are constructed. Some cities produce wealth, so maybe switching to pacifism is the next step. Maybe I will grab Physics form Liberalism if there is some luck.
Slow tech pace in my game. I guess due to wars on the other continents.

Overview:


Techs:


Diplo:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/70897/Lonely_Darius_AD-1020.CivBeyondSwordSave

 

[illram]

1st, monarch

Spoiler :

Early checkpoint but wanted to remark that I like this continent. I see at least 8 or 9 great city spots. Funny that we draw a map with good health resources when we play with a UB that gives out two free .



Went worker, worker, warrior, chopped settler.

Went wheel-->pottery-->AH-->mining-->BW and from there will go to priesthood, then writing.



I'm trying out the BUG mod, we'll see if it's too much info for my little brain to handle...

 

[Kennigit]

@Voiceofunreason

Spoiler :

Basically, I'm just using it to get another great person. Its about 6-7 turns off from a great scientist. I could have put it w/ the clam and incense, but where it is also snags acouple grasslands.

 

[cheffster]

Im back in this one, playing just on emperor.

Checkpoint #1

Spoiler :

Here's the map of my 2 cities, im sure you guys all know what the rest of the terrain looks like. About to get metal casting from the Oracle.


Here's a look at my capital:



more updates soon

 

[r_rolo1]

Checkpoint 1

Spoiler :

People like to say that is better to have luck than to be good.... This time I'm not sure if I had luck or if I'm good ( or both ).

Settled in placed and queued worker- warrior until size 4 then settler and started the research with AH ( sheep in BFC and search for horses ). I had some good hut luck ( 1 map + 51 gold + Fishing + archery .... Fishing was most welcomed, with all the sushis we have in our island ). Then founded my 2nd city 1E of the northern horses ( 1W from river, but the only way of having horses + pig +sushi in BFC ) and started to build the Oracle. I had some terrible event luck with capitol mines ( IIRC 5-6 mine colapses before anno domini ) and the Oracle was getting delayed... self researched Maths and continued my way researching Col until I realized this (all in the same turn):

Spoiler :

A genuine CS slingshot in Monarch in 675 BC post warlords 2.08 ( I even checked the settings just to make sure that I had done it on Monarch....).Changed civics to Beauro ASAP....

With all this fuzz I even forgot that I had discovered all the island ages ago:

Spoiler :

Some nice spots in a island that can hold 8-9 cities.... It reminds me the first of the LHC in warlords with HC. Let's just hope that the island has all the necessary resources ( it has a good amount of health ones, but a serious shortage of happy ones)

Checkpoint 2

Spoiler :

Not much to say here.. got philo( with Taoism ) and some nice events:

Spoiler :

Got the collosus as well and had time to roll back and to research the way to Optics and to starting to find new civs ( I normally let them find me, but this game is going very well )

Spoiler :

Surya is very backward and the lack of religion indicates that he's isolated or with 1 more civ. The second one was the truth:

Spoiler :

Peter is even more backward than Surya and both share a small continent SW of us. They don't have any diplo - about war, so the GG that I saw came from elsewhere ( as well as the hindu AP )...

I continued my way to Lib, and then I find this nice chap:

Spoiler :

Shaka... why do I have to get him almost all the time ?. But this Shaka is backwards (at the same level of Surya ) and being budhish without the holy city indicates that there are more civs in this continent ( and BTW got the circumnavigation bonus.... )

Shortly after:

Spoiler :

In retrospective I should had saved Lib for a better tech ( I discovered later that the no civ even had Paper when I got lib... ) but I'm so used to rush to Lib ( always trying to snag it from the hands of another civ ) that I decided to play safe....

One more civ:

Spoiler :

I'm worried about Hammurabi... he's got a good point count in spite of being some techs behind. The map I got after showed that he has a nicely sized empire and that looks to be the AI civ with strongest potential. But we still needed to meet the last two civs ( both in same turn ):

Spoiler :

Another 2 fin civs... this is getting interesting. Gandhi is in war with Shaka ( how unusual.... ) nad I'm not sure who is winning.

After some backfilling, I managed to get this map:

Spoiler :

The game is getting real good, in spite of some errors that I made ( I postponed monarchy for a long time.... and Lib was premature )... hopefully this will be a nice SS launch ( the island looks too prod limited for a full dom/conquest win )

 

[illram]

Nice r_rolo1. Haven't seen that in a while. I'd chalk that up to skill since you had the foresight to have mathematics done pre-oracle build.

 

[r_rolo1]

Nice r_rolo1. Haven't seen that in a while. I'd chalk that up to skill since you had the foresight to have mathematics done pre-oracle build.

I'm flattered .... but it had his share of luck: normally in this date Oracle is normally alrealdy built in Monarch. But having a fin civ with 3 FP in the capitol BFC helps a lot as well ....

 

[cheffster]

My game is running along quite smoothly.

No contact with any outside civs yet. But I have built: The pyramids, AP, Usankore, Sminerat, and alot of other wonders and have and amazing economony running. I founded Hinduism, Islam, and Taoism, be interesting too see how other civs match up once I meet them.

Spoiler :

Overall look at my cities:


My capital


And during my golden age from the free GA from discovering music first, I managed to change civics to Beauracracy at the last possible turn - some damn nice timing.





Heres my Maoi statues city:


city screen


and I attached my save at 1130AD.

not really sure what to pursue next, but atm my Civ is turning into Borg and getting ever more powerfull by the turn.

 

[illram]

chkpoint2

Spoiler :

Things are progressing. On a general note, cottage spammed everything with preference to river tiles, I don't think I have built a single farm. I beelined liberalism moreso than in previous games and got it in 1000AD, eschewing just about every non-necessary tech to get it early. I filled the western half on the continent and planned on founding three cities to the east for a total of 11.



Early liberalism for earily nationalism and then early democracy for emancipation. I bulbed education with one scientists along the way, my only scientist so far. It also let me build the Taj and get a free GA, since I knew I'd be short on great people and thus GAs.

Got democracy in 1450 and finished the Taj the same turn.



I want to wait until some of my lesser production cities have whipped the buildings they need till I switch to emancipation, however. My GA let me speed up my research nicely and I was able to get to astronomy in about 11 turns, even though I hadn't even researched metal casting yet.

Fairly well rounded cities research wise:



Once all my cottages become towns that will get much better. I figure that eventually I can safely get around 1500 beakers with libraries, universities, and observatories in every city and 60-70% slider.

I will also switch the FR and FS soon, as the University of Sankore wonder isn't really providing me the boost in research I thought it would. US seems to be a popular wonder but I never really get that much out of it and it is a pain to build temples and monasteries in every city when I can be building other stuff, although in isolation it's not as big a deal. Nonetheless the US is only giving me about 30 beakers a turn when FR could probably net me around 50 with more once my towns come online.



The Khmer have dye and sugar, and aren't that advanced.

Peter is slightly ahead of the Khmer. Still no astronomy for either of them.



And...my capital:



I really want to try a domination win but I have a sneaking suspicion it will end up with a space race again... we shall see.

On an unrelated note, the BUG mod is definitely interesting and will probably only get better as I learn to use it more effectively. Right now it really offers more info than I can handle, particularly in the domestic adviser screen. One thing that is great is the whip reminders, it really lets me go crazy with the whip when before I was just too lazy to check all my cities every turn to see if they were ready to whip.

edit: wow, I just noticed Peter and the Khmer have no religion! Say hello to confucianism my heathen friends...

@r_rolo1

I've noticed the AI doesn't build the oracle as early post-patch. Pre-patch you had to build it before 1000BC at the latest, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Is the mighty CS slingshot back??? (On monarch?)