I had never played a non-variant game in C3C, so I decided to give a try. Difficulty level would be deity, even though I have never played on that level. I would target my first UN victory, too.
I choose Iroquous, because they start with Alphabet and Pottery. That means I don't have to worry about what to research in the beginning, I can just beeline to Literature, at minimum. Map is large, 60% water archipelago, so that rivals have plenty of space for expansion. I play against 7 scientific civs (I left Persia out, because I did not remember it is scientific too) so that tech pace will be faster and first techs of each era will be cheaper. I am not very patient player.
Start location is decent:
2 Currachs -> Settler -> Worker -> Granary -> Settlers
Rivals:
Light green: Greece,
Light blue: Sumeria,
Light purple: Korea,
Brown: Russia,
Blue: Germany,
Bright red: Babylon,
Blood brown: Byzantine,
Purple: Iroquous (me).
Everybody is on the same big island, except Sumerians. I soon find Babylonians, Germans and Korea. I trade Alphabet and Pottery for some first tier techs and cash. I can only sell Writing to Sumerians because everybody else researches it before I do. Because every civ knows only a few others, I can get cash by buying monopoly techs and selling to everybody else. In theory. They want crazy amounts of money for tech known by nobody else, so I decide to wait until Literature.
When I have 21 cities, of which most are badly corrupted, I buy Code of Laws (it is cheap because 3 civs know it already) and start building courthouses. I stop expansion, because you don't need many cities for UN victory. I have bought RoP from Babylon, Korea and Germany at this point.
Greece is in war with Byzantines, and I spot a few Hoplites entering my territory. The very next turn they continue towards St. Regis and stack of archers appears from the darkness... Greece has 322 gold, so I buy it for 30-something gpt and demand him to leave my territory. He declares war, of course. My military consists of some 20 warriors, 3 swordsmen and a mounted warrior. I move everything from the nearest cities to St. Regis and upgrade some warriors. St. Regis rushes walls and nearby cities start building catapults. Enemy units advance towards undefended Mauch Chunk so I can pick them one by one. Mounted warrior reaches St. Regis in a few turns and triggers Golden Age at 190BC.
Soon after the war has started, I research Literature. With some creative trading (I do not remember exactly, because I originally had no plans to document the game) I buy all Ancient Age techs and The Republic. I sell them around so that everybody gets to Middle Ages (I was maybe third there). I buy Monotheism, too, and plan to wait until somebody has Theology. Golden Age is spent building Courthouses, Marketplaces, Aqueducts and Cathedrals. Forbidden Palace finishes five turns before Golden Age ends. After that, I revolt to Republic. That will be my government for ever.
Do you still remember the Greeks? Well, after I had killed 15 archers or so, they decided they are badly needed at the Byzantine border. They retreated as fast as they had come.
Now that I have some income (from marketplaces and trade bonus) I can become World Bank. If somebody has cash, I buy it with gpt. That means they cannot rush buildings or upgrade units, and at the same time it speeds their research, so I can win faster. They soon find out the best method to cope with lack of money: Babylon destroys Germany, Russia and Korea are in a never ending war and Byzantine keeps declaring war to random civilizations. I am safe from that everything: I have RoP with everybody, and I have their money. I always pay RoP in gpt. If I am not paying any gpt to the civilization, they will start demanding immediatelly, regardless of RoP. If they demand cash, I buy it back with gpt, but sometimes they demand luxury
I buy Theology from Byzantines (who have been #1 civ since the beginning), who soon research Education and Printing Press, too. Amazingly, Byzantines only know Sumerians and Greeks, so I sell them 4 contacts for 25 gpt or so. I steal Education and beeline to Economics. I research Banking before anybody else, and that buys me Printing Press, Feudalism, Engineering, Invention, Gunpowder and loads of gpt (well, that is originally my gpt). Greece beats me to Economics with a few turns, and they are building Smiths faster than I do, even though I had good prebuild
Luckily they get Democracy and revolt right away, so I build it in 810AD. Economics bought me Printing Press, Chivalry, Astronomy and some more gpt. Since they are researching fast, I decide to go 0% science for a while.
I steal Chemistry from Korea and Physics from Byzantines. I hope Byzantines are going for Magnetism, so I research Theory of Gravity. I was correct: They researched Magnetism. I flip my well timed prebuild to Newton's University (by the way, 20% corrupted Mauch Chunk makes more shields per turn than my previous, uncorrupted wonder city
) and sell ToG to Byzantines for Magnetism and Metallurgy. Russians sell me Military Tradition and others give me world maps and some more gpt. I wait one turn so that they shop their free techs around and then steal Steam Power from the weakest civ, Sumerians. I research Electricity and that buys me Medicine and Coal. I railroad my Mauch Chunk's radius and after that I make nice railroad patchwork. Everybody is in war and I am in the middle of the island, so there are hundreds of units in my territory. It is not very pleasant to find next tile I could railroad. Meanwhile, Greece and Korea have gone Fascism.
Next target: Scientific Method. I build ToE and take Atomic Theory and Electronics. Scientific Method itself buys me Sanitation and Industrialization. I wait until Byzantines research The Corporation. First steal fails (they have got Epsionage, like many others, I guess Intelligence Agency causes that), but she doesn't declare war. Why would she? I have got her money
Second succeeds, and The Corporation and Atomic Theory buy me Epsionage, Communism and some cash. (It seems I forgot Nationalism. I have no idea when I bought it). Russia was the only civ who had extra coal (Byzantine has not yet linked hers), but Korea (who is Fascist) is beating them badly, so I fear for my coal. Korea and Babylon destroy Russia by 1100AD, about thirty turns after.
I am currently ahead in techs (well, I have Electronics and they don't), but Byzantine is zooming ahead. I steal Refining (I can afford failing; I have over 15k cash and I have no use for it) and go for Steel. Byzantines are going for Electronics. I sell Steel to everybody, and Byzantines beat me to Combustion with 2 turns. I research that anyway. I suspect Byzantine is going for Mass Production, so I go for Flight. They research Flight in 5 turns. I decide to stay 0% science from now on. They soon sell Flight (and Mass Production) around and declare war to Korea, too. Hundreds of Infantry, Guerilla and Cavalry pass my territory. I steal Motorized Transportation from Byzantines and sell everybody to Modern Age. The very next turn I steal Fission from Sumerians and Mauch Chunk starts building UN. 10 turns left.
I have figured out I will have to declare war to Byzantine, since she will be the only other candidate in the elections (they even have 3000 higher score than anybody else in game). I will only have to keep my wonder city, and that's why I have built some barricades that should stop their military from advancing:
UN is due in 2 turns, so I sign alliances. They only cost me 2k gold. Why won't they request 40k gold like they do for techs? Byzantine advances and takes St. Regis.
Uh oh! I excepted her to raze it. I really hope elections will be holded the very first turn. It turns out I hoped correct:
I won by 1485AD and achieved 6898 points.
In fact, Deity seems really easy level. I didn't even build military after Ancient Age. Or maybe it is diplomatic victory what is easy? Well, I don't know.
I choose Iroquous, because they start with Alphabet and Pottery. That means I don't have to worry about what to research in the beginning, I can just beeline to Literature, at minimum. Map is large, 60% water archipelago, so that rivals have plenty of space for expansion. I play against 7 scientific civs (I left Persia out, because I did not remember it is scientific too) so that tech pace will be faster and first techs of each era will be cheaper. I am not very patient player.
Start location is decent:
2 Currachs -> Settler -> Worker -> Granary -> Settlers
Rivals:
Light green: Greece,
Light blue: Sumeria,
Light purple: Korea,
Brown: Russia,
Blue: Germany,
Bright red: Babylon,
Blood brown: Byzantine,
Purple: Iroquous (me).
Everybody is on the same big island, except Sumerians. I soon find Babylonians, Germans and Korea. I trade Alphabet and Pottery for some first tier techs and cash. I can only sell Writing to Sumerians because everybody else researches it before I do. Because every civ knows only a few others, I can get cash by buying monopoly techs and selling to everybody else. In theory. They want crazy amounts of money for tech known by nobody else, so I decide to wait until Literature.
When I have 21 cities, of which most are badly corrupted, I buy Code of Laws (it is cheap because 3 civs know it already) and start building courthouses. I stop expansion, because you don't need many cities for UN victory. I have bought RoP from Babylon, Korea and Germany at this point.
Greece is in war with Byzantines, and I spot a few Hoplites entering my territory. The very next turn they continue towards St. Regis and stack of archers appears from the darkness... Greece has 322 gold, so I buy it for 30-something gpt and demand him to leave my territory. He declares war, of course. My military consists of some 20 warriors, 3 swordsmen and a mounted warrior. I move everything from the nearest cities to St. Regis and upgrade some warriors. St. Regis rushes walls and nearby cities start building catapults. Enemy units advance towards undefended Mauch Chunk so I can pick them one by one. Mounted warrior reaches St. Regis in a few turns and triggers Golden Age at 190BC.
Soon after the war has started, I research Literature. With some creative trading (I do not remember exactly, because I originally had no plans to document the game) I buy all Ancient Age techs and The Republic. I sell them around so that everybody gets to Middle Ages (I was maybe third there). I buy Monotheism, too, and plan to wait until somebody has Theology. Golden Age is spent building Courthouses, Marketplaces, Aqueducts and Cathedrals. Forbidden Palace finishes five turns before Golden Age ends. After that, I revolt to Republic. That will be my government for ever.
Do you still remember the Greeks? Well, after I had killed 15 archers or so, they decided they are badly needed at the Byzantine border. They retreated as fast as they had come.
Now that I have some income (from marketplaces and trade bonus) I can become World Bank. If somebody has cash, I buy it with gpt. That means they cannot rush buildings or upgrade units, and at the same time it speeds their research, so I can win faster. They soon find out the best method to cope with lack of money: Babylon destroys Germany, Russia and Korea are in a never ending war and Byzantine keeps declaring war to random civilizations. I am safe from that everything: I have RoP with everybody, and I have their money. I always pay RoP in gpt. If I am not paying any gpt to the civilization, they will start demanding immediatelly, regardless of RoP. If they demand cash, I buy it back with gpt, but sometimes they demand luxury
I buy Theology from Byzantines (who have been #1 civ since the beginning), who soon research Education and Printing Press, too. Amazingly, Byzantines only know Sumerians and Greeks, so I sell them 4 contacts for 25 gpt or so. I steal Education and beeline to Economics. I research Banking before anybody else, and that buys me Printing Press, Feudalism, Engineering, Invention, Gunpowder and loads of gpt (well, that is originally my gpt). Greece beats me to Economics with a few turns, and they are building Smiths faster than I do, even though I had good prebuild
Luckily they get Democracy and revolt right away, so I build it in 810AD. Economics bought me Printing Press, Chivalry, Astronomy and some more gpt. Since they are researching fast, I decide to go 0% science for a while.I steal Chemistry from Korea and Physics from Byzantines. I hope Byzantines are going for Magnetism, so I research Theory of Gravity. I was correct: They researched Magnetism. I flip my well timed prebuild to Newton's University (by the way, 20% corrupted Mauch Chunk makes more shields per turn than my previous, uncorrupted wonder city
) and sell ToG to Byzantines for Magnetism and Metallurgy. Russians sell me Military Tradition and others give me world maps and some more gpt. I wait one turn so that they shop their free techs around and then steal Steam Power from the weakest civ, Sumerians. I research Electricity and that buys me Medicine and Coal. I railroad my Mauch Chunk's radius and after that I make nice railroad patchwork. Everybody is in war and I am in the middle of the island, so there are hundreds of units in my territory. It is not very pleasant to find next tile I could railroad. Meanwhile, Greece and Korea have gone Fascism.Next target: Scientific Method. I build ToE and take Atomic Theory and Electronics. Scientific Method itself buys me Sanitation and Industrialization. I wait until Byzantines research The Corporation. First steal fails (they have got Epsionage, like many others, I guess Intelligence Agency causes that), but she doesn't declare war. Why would she? I have got her money
Second succeeds, and The Corporation and Atomic Theory buy me Epsionage, Communism and some cash. (It seems I forgot Nationalism. I have no idea when I bought it). Russia was the only civ who had extra coal (Byzantine has not yet linked hers), but Korea (who is Fascist) is beating them badly, so I fear for my coal. Korea and Babylon destroy Russia by 1100AD, about thirty turns after.I am currently ahead in techs (well, I have Electronics and they don't), but Byzantine is zooming ahead. I steal Refining (I can afford failing; I have over 15k cash and I have no use for it) and go for Steel. Byzantines are going for Electronics. I sell Steel to everybody, and Byzantines beat me to Combustion with 2 turns. I research that anyway. I suspect Byzantine is going for Mass Production, so I go for Flight. They research Flight in 5 turns. I decide to stay 0% science from now on. They soon sell Flight (and Mass Production) around and declare war to Korea, too. Hundreds of Infantry, Guerilla and Cavalry pass my territory. I steal Motorized Transportation from Byzantines and sell everybody to Modern Age. The very next turn I steal Fission from Sumerians and Mauch Chunk starts building UN. 10 turns left.
I have figured out I will have to declare war to Byzantine, since she will be the only other candidate in the elections (they even have 3000 higher score than anybody else in game). I will only have to keep my wonder city, and that's why I have built some barricades that should stop their military from advancing:
UN is due in 2 turns, so I sign alliances. They only cost me 2k gold. Why won't they request 40k gold like they do for techs? Byzantine advances and takes St. Regis.
Uh oh! I excepted her to raze it. I really hope elections will be holded the very first turn. It turns out I hoped correct:
I won by 1485AD and achieved 6898 points.
In fact, Deity seems really easy level. I didn't even build military after Ancient Age. Or maybe it is diplomatic victory what is easy? Well, I don't know.
