Mad Scientist's RPC summary

SO it's better to keep a horse of modern armor stationed arround teh captial and wait until AFTER they launch it to destroy the capital and the ship! Sounds a little trickier than just leveling the empire.

OK,

1) Don't Take a Vassal
2) Destroy capitals AFTER the launch to destroy the SpaceShip.
 
Don't think so. The space ship parts exist somewhere "in between" cities, and the only thing you destroy by razing a city is whatever hammers the AI invested in the latest ship part in that city. On the other hand, you can destroy a ship *after* it launches by destroying the capital IIRC and the guy has to start building it all over again.

If you capture/destroy someone's capitol, his Space Ship gets destroyed.
 
Sounds like a game of building up to a decent sized edge in score, and then keeping an emergency "strike force" in place to destroy any capitals/cultural cities as they launch/get near victory.
 
If you want to win my advice is to cripple all the AIs ASAP but this may produce a pretty boring game. playing hemispheres is a good idea though a sit will keep the game going as a contest for longer
 
Yeah, if you can get in the lead, taking turns crippling everyone down to a handful of cities would be an easy way. Although definitely be careful that someone else doesn't get a backdoor AP win (grr, I just had that happen to me. I just got infantry, they still only barely got grenadiers. I already had 2 of their cities, and was just healing up before making my way over to Berlin when they won by AP).
 
A Raze and Pillage Ecomony may fit in nicely with this RPC. Espionage could also be vital to know what strategy the enemy is up to and how to best undo them.
 
I'll return as a shadow for stagnant mehmed.

You can take vassals as long as you cut one of their culture cities reasonably into the mid game. With vassals:

You can direct their research, deliberately preventing space or any modern culture wonders, ever. Don't let them get fusion and no matter how many other parts they make, they can't win space. Tell them to research future tech constantly. If they don't have a strong culture city by the late renaissance (or if you just take one and don't give it back), there's no way they're going to win culture without any culture wonder multipliers (or hell, if you get the vassal early enough just prevent them from ever researching music). You can even force them out of free speech if you're not in it. They can rot with their 50 culture per turn all they want then.

Another strategy is to capture one hemisphere, then colonize the other, liberating city after city. This will keep you under the dom threshold more easily, and those cities won't have culture to speak of, and you can prevent them from attaining meaningful culture via the methods already mentioned (or if it's later on it's not even a valid concern).

Just kick the last AIs around a little. If you get > 40% of the world's pop, the AI isn't going to be able to do anything about you winning time. It will be zzzzzzz especially on marathon (I'll probably switch it to epic at least), but pretty doable.
 
TMIT, you can tell them NOT to research Music, but you CAN'T tell then NOT TO TRADE FOR IT.

Even if you tell them, don't trade with x,y,z. They are sure to pick it up somewhere, even as a gift from an AI.

I'd have to say it's nearly impossible to stop them. Taking a vassal, just opens up the Culture win, I say, No vassals, Just beat them to a pulp, release them and stomp someone else.

You'd proberly have to Nuke a lot of AI's, just make sure they don't get scrub fall out tech..forget which one.

Times proberly the hardest, as you'll eventually have most civ's on future tech, constantly trying to launch, domination and diplomatic. On that, get self elected as biggest civ, vote out all civics not wanted, and burn it down. (Just get another civ to build, and burn it yourself)

Domination and conquest, you'll have to limit self, even freeing a vassal, they'll just try launch as they have all your tech's and it'll be impossible to get them to break free, so you can attack, as you'll be so much higher in power.

Culture, just burn down 1st city and 2nd for good measure, so they give that one up.

Now this leaves you time, just pump out troops, burn cities, so AI has to spend time rebuilding them to gain production, and chug along.

It's going to be slow painful and boring, but Mad's got to do, what Mad madness tell him to do.
 
TMIT, you can tell them NOT to research Music, but you CAN'T tell then NOT TO TRADE FOR IT.

Even if you tell them, don't trade with x,y,z. They are sure to pick it up somewhere, even as a gift from an AI.

Or steal it with spies from you or from somebody else who has it. So yeah, no vassals.
 
Good points and bad points about vassals. I will keep the option open although I like the idea of being able to Beat up on weaker opponents when I want (Yeah, there is a streak Buuliness to Mehmed).

I envision the game as conquering one continent, then using the other as a personal whipping ground, perhaps with one settled city.
 
Ok, so they get music. How often do you guys find backwards, crappy AIs with 0 modern culture wonders winning culture? I must be playing a different game. Especially in the case of colonies, there's virtually no way...

As long as you take one of their top 3 culture cities and prevent them from attaining any modern culture wonders, they're...kind of screwed out of culture.

Back in the ram wonder spam game, I took quite a few vassals, including industrious bismark and Qin while still ultimately controlling every world wonder before winning. I'm pretty sure that, if I can keep them from even owning a single wonder for hundreds of turns after capitulation, I can keep them from culture :rolleyes:.

But rather than argue it, i'll just prove it ;).
 
Well, if you're gonna get a vassal with only a few cities I'm not sure it's useful to get it as vassal. As long as they're on your continent simply take all the land and kill them. If not, even if you take their best three cities they have a lot of time to "decide" what to go for. If they're on another continent it might be harder to determine which cities have good cultural potential.

Anyway, I have no experience with time victories, but it takes quite a while to get to the end of the game. If we're talking Monarch in a game where the "real" victory could come at 1700-1800AD are you sure a vassal AI can't still shoot for culture?
 
Well, if you're gonna get a vassal with only a few cities I'm not sure it's useful to get it as vassal. As long as they're on your continent simply take all the land and kill them. If not, even if you take their best three cities they have a lot of time to "decide" what to go for. If they're on another continent it might be harder to determine which cities have good cultural potential.

Anyway, I have no experience with time victories, but it takes quite a while to get to the end of the game. If we're talking Monarch in a game where the "real" victory could come at 1700-1800AD are you sure a vassal AI can't still shoot for culture?

100% positive. See the shadow I'm about to put in the RPC thread.
 
Just to give you an example, THIS is the kind of city/civ you guys are insisting is going to be a big problem to mad as far winning culture as a vassal: (note: spoiler from his RPC):

Spoiler :






Tell me how that's a threat in any, way, shape or form.

Now, as to the reasons for taking a vassal vs just wiping a civ out:

1. Vassals bordering other civs enter the "land target" mechanics and allow for chain capitulations. Just ask danf how truly broken/stupid the way the AI evaluates capitulation is. Here's a few fun examples from actual gameplay that work just as fireaxis intended:

- AI has a 1 tile island city and you don't feel like taking it. Because you took that guy as a vassal, the opponent you're currently fighting won't vassal because his power is greater than all civ's average power...due to that 1 tile island civ that's already part of you technically. Were you to go into worldbuilder and do nothing but DELETE that vassal, NOW the target capitulates. So yes, you get weaker and they capitulate essentially. Note that this check doesn't care how bad you're owning the target, as long as its power is still above the average...

- When considering its own power, target counts its vassals. When considering yours, it does not count your vassals.

- I'm virtually certain there's something bugged about colonies and vassals. I've ripped the target so hard that there is absolutely no way it had above average power, and I had 4 times its power literally. If it has a colony, no dice.

- That said if you're at war with someone and someone who borders them is also at war, this is counted. Even if it's just a crappy 2 city vassal that otherwise hurts your cause, should this vassal be bordering target civ, then it still speeds the capitulation.....and a lot. This also works with any civ and war though.

- They only count for 1/2 land and pop. Assuming you ruin its chances of victory, a vassal can hold land for you and you can ignore it. It can't attack you, it won't trade meaningful techs with other AIs since its tech rate is left for dead. Essentially this allows you to control what more of the map is doing. If the objective is time crushing the world tech rate by damaging civs badly and taking them as vassals can/will work.

Ultimately, the biggest consideration in this particular RPC is how useful the cities will be captured. But, if they're just going to be razed or put you over the domination limit, there's no reason not to make use of vassals if you know what you're doing.
 
Ok, madscientist, I have another RPC for you. It is called "Every city needs a strong man". In short it comes to this:

1. You can only settle 6 cities yourself
2. Every city you own needs a great person settled
3. You have to win by domination
4. If you want to conquer a city you need a GP that can be settled straight away. Otherwise you are not allowed to conquer cities unless you know that there are already GP settled. (maybe insert the possibility that you are allowed to raze cities)
5. Maybe use an unrestricted leader for this like ind/phi romans (with forum for extra GP growth)

Key is to concentrate on protective wars to get great generals going, get the free GP from various techs like music/economics/facism/communism/fusion and of course get a wonder spamming capital to get more GP going. You are going to need every GP you can get so no acadamies/rushing wonders/shrines/supermedics/etc....
 
OK, I think it's time for Boudica to break out!

However, I am not quite sure of the rules and map

I sort of view Boudica as the compliment game to the early Washington RPC. So I am tempted to play a Pangea Map. However, I do not really want a Celtic cakewalk here, so perhaps we shall move to a large Pangea map with a few more AIs to play arround with.

The rules I am a little unsure of but here is what I am thinking

The Amazon Queen and the Goblin King!

Where we place Some of the weaker male leaders and all the available female leaders (Hatty, Cathy, Victoria, Isabella). Boudica MUST kill all the rival queens and vassal one of the males. Warring is an option against the males, and all victories are open.

Queen of the World, all love her and dispair:
Same rules as Washington, she must win via diplomacy. She cannot refuse any request from one of the male suiters (except attackign another male) including warring against the 4 ladies, giving techs/gold etc... Sha also MUST form a permanent alliance with one Male leader to make them an honest man.

Superior Amazonian Might vs. Inferior Intelligence. Pit's Boudica against the games very best, yet peaceful techers. She must win by domination, however she must destroy the other women.

Looking for some suggestions on this one!
 
I don't see any point in repeating the same rules as the Washington RPC.

How about ...

Boudica the Amazon
Boudica must vassalize or destroy every male leader who isn't a consort (vassal) of another female. She is free to trade with male leaders, and reject or accept their requests, as she believes best suits her interest.
For female leaders, she sees two types of women:
Amazons: Female leaders who are not vassals themselves, nor hold any female as a vassal.
The Fallen: Female leaders who have permitted themselves to become a vassal, or forced another female to become a vassal. (Up to you whether this includes anyone who spins off a female leader for a colony).
Boudica must always accept the requests of an Amazon (except that of fighting another Amazon), and must always deny the requests of the Fallen. She cannot trade with the fallen.
All victory types are open.
 
The rules I am a little unsure of but here is what I am thinking

The Amazon Queen and the Goblin King!

Where we place Some of the weaker male leaders and all the available female leaders (Hatty, Cathy, Victoria, Isabella). Boudica MUST kill all the rival queens and vassal one of the males. Warring is an option against the males, and all victories are open.

Boudica is only impressed by strong men, that should be obvious. So I'd say, use some of the stronger male leaders.

Warring against the charming males ?
Doesn't sound right to me either.
I suggest Boudi can only go to war against the males if she's attacked by them.

And all victory conditions ?
The only thing Boudica loves is dominance. So it should be conquest or domination in my opinion.

As map I'd suggest a continents/hemispheres script. Therefore some intercontinental warfare would be necessary to reach the goal.
 
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