Nebuchadnezzar says 'Let's get physical'.

[ezysquire]

I thought I would post a blow-by-blow account of a game using Thalassicus' Balance - Combined Mod.
This mod is excellent and does a lot to improve many of the issues people rave about on this and other forums. It does not improve ai, but many of the balance issues related to economy and combat are improved. Its thread is here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=385737

For this play-through I decided to take Babylon and be aggressive with them. Kind of like a traditional Civ game where a science focus is used to get the best army to dominate.
I'm not interested in any ICS, just building a strong economy based on resource distribution and then the military to pwn.
Initial victory condition aimed for is domination, but will see what happens.

Game settings: Immortal, Pangea, Standard Map.
I will aim to post updates at 50 turn intervals.

And so it begins...

'Steady food' based starting location with lots of 2x or 3x food slots. So was happy enough with that. Steady growth cities are always pretty good.

Barbarians to the north with a city state. All good.

Yah! for goodie-huts - seriously the map? especially bad in this case since it reveals south, where the warrior was going anyways...
It does make for good safety for the warrior though, and this warrior is critical to the brewing strategy. Forget the warrior rush, I am going for Bowmen, and so have archery technology underway first, but that ONE warrior will be critical as the melee unit to capture cities.

Almaty city state met - and another goodie hut, what will it be this time?!?!?

Can't complain about a cool 100.

So the scout is made and he quickly reveals a strong second city spot close to Babylon. The Great Barrier Reef is an amazing natural wonder to strike there.
In Balance - Combined the tile yield from natural wonders is boosted +1 and +1
Considering there are two of these solid production tiles that can be developed owing to the food from the cows, I'm happy.

And so the mighty men of Babylon learn the art of archery.

Queue shuffle in Babylon. Get the bowman built. The monument that had a few turns between scout building and archery discovery will hold in the build queue and be reverted to to fill the gaps around unit production for the duration of the early turns.

Aha! Persians are close. Great to see some historic accuracy! Only this time it will be the Babylonians that end up ruling the Persians.

Maritime City State in the back blocks of my natural area. Excellent. And another goodie-hut to boot.

Result: PERFECTION - the first of my Bowmen.

Time to get some quick experience, but I must continue scouting. This is the most important thing at this stage. The all important warrior continues to do this to the east as the Bowman Scout finishes off the west and moves to progress east.

Excellent, next civ met is old Ram Kam. He is keen to cooperate, "sure" I say.

Another goodie-hut appears.

Got a Barb camp reveal from it. Yuck - no graphic.

Enter the Japanese. Things looking good. I also met the Aztecs about this time, so that's two nice aggressive powers out there. My better science will be the difference later on...

Sweet, that looks like something to do for my new recruit bowman when he shows up soon...

Cooperation with aggressive powers early is always good.

Cleaning up these barbs is important to secure the area/earn gold/claim experience.

Persia builds his second city. Looks nicely located with good food resources. In Balance - Combined there is additional food from food resources when you build a granary (renamed smokehouse).

 

[Slowpoke]

Awesome, I'd love to see that mods' changes in action. Thal's thread in strategy didn't show a whole lot of details.

 

[ezysquire]

So the early territory on the map is taking good shape now, with my two bowmen heading east towards the Persians...

Claiming the worker is a nice bonus from the barb kill.

Combining forces in preparation for DoW.

I considered declaring war here, but felt I needed to be in better position first. The bowman strategy demands good patience and careful manoeuvering. I don't want to lose any units yet. I decide to refrain from this assault and position properly to the south of the river where the terrain makes my archers hard to reach for Persia's melee units.

He seems to think he will win.

The battle ensues.

Froggy says hello.

After I got archery I headed for writing to get my free scientist. Unlike what most people seem to do, I don't like going for the free tech. I think it's a waste early...

Killing off the Persian melee units before rushing to attack the city is a must.

Building the academy this early on grassland is very helpful. In Balance Combined the academy provides 6
So built on top of grassland makes the 6 sustainable with the 2
Immediately moving population to work this tile shifts the tech research time of calendar from 11 turns to 7 turns. This improvement across all the early technologies is most helpful... far better than just taking the one new technology.
In a way building the academy instead of rushing a tech is just about patience. The academy is definitely better in the long term when built this early on.

Back to the war, and things are not going so well for Mr Persia. He decides to offer me everything. I decline.

Assault the city!

Captured.

I might rate low... but I bet I'm the only one who has conquered a city...

A careful approach to the Persian capital is needed. All troops healed and movement led by the Bowman Scout.

Skirmishes on the way to Persepolis provide me with the points to spawn the general. He will be most helpful with the next bowman due in a few turns.

The completion of the earlier Barbarian conquest city state request by Almity has worked wonders here, with that friendship earning me a scout. While weak, it is a melee unit to back up the warrior and will be helpful in continuing to reveal the map once Persia is dealt with.

Excellent. Another aggressive power.

Horseback Riding brings with it this momentous occassion in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

Attack!

General Patton heads north with bowman to deal with barbarians.

Meanwhile, Persia collapses in the east!

 

[Mzrokks]

Awesome!
Keep it coming, this is epic warfare!

 

[Civ'ed]

when I looked at one of the screenshots I saw your horses without pasture...
Anyway, Great read!

 

[ezysquire]

Conquering Persia proved proved pretty easy in hindsight and as you will see over the course of the next 50 turns, Nebuchadnezzar has some logistic problems. However, the Persian cities make a nice addition to the Babylonian empire and strategically they are at an important juncture.

Following the victory over Persia there was a baby boom in Akkad and Babylon as the people there celebrated the way they know best. This lead to a surplus population and they set about starting a new city.
As the settler left town, the people of Akkad picked the smokehouse to build to help them party on the Great Barrier Reef. Note the special bonus Balance - Combined gives to the granary (smokehouse) building.

At the same time as the west is being settled further, in the east the homeland of some travelling warriors is found as are some more city states.

The same to the north, where the Almaty born scout is plying his trade.

It seems my success at knocking over the Persians has drawn in a fan.

 

[ezysquire]

I allowed the monument to finish and was then left with the choice of building a horseman, a stable or a library. All have their benefits, but in Balance - Combined these choices do come with some differences.
The stable is a much better proposition in Balance - Combined. The extra yield from the horse pasture improvement makes this a worthwhile choice:

The library is less attracive than in vanilla with it nerfed to just one specialist slot instead of two. This slot is moved to the university. Still in this game, Babylon will need a library sooner, rather than later.

I opted for the stable though because I didn't feel I was going to go to war again very soon and maximising yield and build times is good where possible. The plan for Babylon is build a stable and then make some horsemen.

In the meantime, the barbarian camp is cleared and a friend is made - a very important friend at that. Stockholm - guardian of the isthmus at Babylon's backdoor.

Chatting with Master Yoda soon after, it becomes apparent that he is likely a good ally. I have not found his territory, yet I have talked to him a few times, which suggests he is on the direct opposite side of my rivals. This makes him a strong ally and he appears to be doing well so far.

Monty appears to be expanding fast - territory to the North-East and a new settler on the move.

 

[ezysquire]

So... what to do? North takes the Bowman army to Monty and his bloodthirsty Jaguars and East takes them to Ram Kam who is supposedly Nebuchadnezzar's friend. The geography does not help make the decision as both north or east passage are easily blocked/defended. It comes down to deciding which enemy is better to press on now. Monty will be aggressive all the time, Ram Kam won't be. I'm never particularly concerned about Monty, he can always be tackled, but Ram Kam can be a nuisance with elephants. Given the large distances my army has to travel to get from Babylon, Ram Kam is the better first target - clear him out with horsemen before the elephants turn up to the party.

Back in the homeland, Dur-Karigalzu is founded. So many resources to enjoy.

And construction is learned. In Balance - Combined this technology gets a boost with the addition of the aqueduct building (an old civ classic ) and the Agra Fort, which is a national wonder that provides increased city defence and two merchant slots.
If an aqueduct is built in all cities then the Trajan Baths (a national wonder) can be built giving a +6 bonus. This would be good for Babylon here as it would enable a 'free annexing' of the two Persian cities - something of value given their strategic location.

Getting through to machinery is a goal for Babylon to upgrade the bowmen to crossbows asap.

A needed happiness boost - thanks Mr Scout.

The value of Stockholm becomes apparent here, where I find there are CiVs to the west. Some barbarian fun for the general in the meantime.

The civs to the north are running out of space - fast. It's the complete opposite to the wilderness in the south...
The picture above shows the no man's land that has developed as Froggy sends his settler to the tundra north.

Meanwhile I find the home of my 'fan'.

In the east, the Bowman army has arrived on Ram Kam's doorstep. If allied with the green city state, this attack may be possible. That one swordsman is a worry. If drawn out into the open, the arrows could shoot him up.

At the same time this 'friend' makes a request. You know, it's really hard to trust the word 'friend' when the dude saying it is holding a MASSIVE sword over his shoulder.

 

[ezysquire]

An introduction with God?

Getting serious about the war now. The bowmen must drag out the Ram Kam defenders from Siamese territory. They are also surrounded at the moment which is not ideal. The choice is either form a line or if feeling bold - advance on the city state. Taking the city state would give a nice base to work from to take down Siam.
The bows opt for safety on this occassion though and pull back to set the trap for the bowman.

Ally status achieved. Silk and food bonus - excellent. The food bonus is a bit nerfed in Balance - Combined.

Small barbarian problem at home. Forced to rush buy a unit to handle this so there is no pillaging. With hardly any workers, it's important to not have any pillage problems.

Bloodthirsty at home - bloodthirsty away! Form the line and DoW !!!!!!

I don't like the way he smirks when he says that.

Ram Kam swordie didn't take the bait, so have to pull back. Approaching it when fortified is risky.

Fall back!

Charge!

ugh...

No thanks.

A horsie comes to the party.

The horsie gets sent packing.

A barb kill earns an ALLY! They are always good when at war.

Blubber for +5 anyone?

Great the swordie came out to party.

Not rushing is important. The 'easy kill' of the horse can wait. Remove the sword and then keep shape. Remaining in line is very important.

More swordie fun! and finish off the horse.

 

[ezysquire]

Just as Almaty gives up the alliance, he gives a chariot archer. Not a great unit, but it does well in complimenting the rest of the Babylonian army. In Balance - Combined it is also slightly improved in that it can move after shooting.

Hurrah!

Japan home found and it seems he is out of space.

Time for open border exchange. Really - I can open my borders to anyone, my territory is totally sparse, isolated and segmented.

Time to refocus onto science after some growth focus. Once libraries are built I will be able to start microing the beakers properly to avoid wastage.

Pity as we make good allies.

Payback is sweet, although in Balance - Combined the horseman is not quite so good. It is nerfed down a bit as it is way too good in the vanilla game. It is -11%

Iron working complete and so upgrade the turn 1 warrior to swordsman. Now the army is sorted to take out Ram Kam.

A timely message. It shows Ram Kam can't rush units...

The army musters.

Form up!

Bah, I made a mistake and lost a horse. That horse needed to be one hex to the left...

On the bright side... Almaty decides to give me a replacement horsie!

Form up for Part 4!

 

[Civ'ed]

TAKE OVER COPENHAGEN!
er... please?

 

[Sparthage]

lurker's comment: Ah. Nice job so far. *Subscribes*

 

[ezysquire]

Offerings of peace refused.

The right decision I think.

Copenhagen looks to be a nuisance...

Back home, and a horseman is selected for next build. Happiness is low, and as you will note, in Balance - Combined the colosseum only gives +3

Phitsanulok defeated

Sneaky barbarians in the north...

Choosing which way to continue the assault is an interesting issue. Nebuchadnezzar thinks sticking south is best though and so chooses this panel. AI retardedness is shown off nicely here also...

Need to keep settling some cities.

Sticking with the goal of crossbowmen, machinery is not far away...

Onwards men!

hmmmm, reinforcements for Ram Kam arrive.

Nippur built: This city is a defensive one. Placed to secure the mountain range and the passes through it.

Back to Ram Kam and he wants peace...

Nebuchadnezzar is not interested in peace...

 

[ezysquire]

Another settler and general join the party.

Almaty begins to stir things up. Ridiculous really... Almaty vs Froggy?

Another city to fall

Too easy

Conquered - time to heal.

Another city - this one well resourced also.

Ram Kam is struggling this war... victory seems close now.

Easy to pick off.

Thanks for another unit Almaty. Pity it's a rat archer.

Time to keep the people happy.

The battle continues:

Area secure and to celebrate - a new technology and instant unit upgrades!

These guys should come in handy.

Draw and destroy:

Another one...

Hit and run pillaging is key. It is what horsemen are best at.

Offering peace like this, Ram Kam is getting desperate...

 

[ezysquire]

No peace, though as Nebuchadnezzar smells blood.

Some more pillaging around the corner.

The battle is getting tight.

Peace in Babylon and the party ensues as people celebrate the first trade route. (Bit slow building this road in hindsight).

Copenhagen keeps sniffing around as the battle continues with Ram Kam.

Crossbows pwn pikes though

More trade is useful with all these puppets around now.

And Nebuchadnezzar's heart slumps... Elephants... and the likely castle to follow. This is a big fail for the army. It needed to beat Ram Kam before chivalry got discovered. Conquering him with horses and crossbows is not really enough now... siege machines will be needed. DAM.

Physics right now a must then as are harbours to earn some gold:

Here come the elephants...

TWO!

Dang, a horseman lost for the price of just two elephants.

With trebuchets some time away still, peace is necessary now. Overall a bad outcome to this war. The obtained city is burned.

Science has suffered owing to this war, and so the great scientist in the pipeline is going to turn things around.

All social policies were saved and so with the scientist to trigger the renaissance, rationalism is about to take effect.
Also, in Balance - Combined, each era provides a small science bonus.

Until next time...

 

[Civ'ed]

Please, I beg you!

REMOVE COPENHAGEN FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

 

[Omega124]

Please, I beg you!

REMOVE COPENHAGEN FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

Well, someone here doesn't like the Danish....

 

[Civ'ed]

Well, someone here doesn't like the Danish....

Actually, I don't mind, but he's throwing everything agains elephants and I just see copenhagen like that and it seems like it surrendered. He could annex copenhagen and start an invasion from there.

 

[ezysquire]

Hi everybody... I had a mere and deleted the save of this... I have started a new one and now that I am more onto it with this posting format, I have got spoilers on the new one. You can see it here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=9935313#post9935313

Sorry if you really wanted to see how it played out for the Babylonians... (I would bet on a science win though)

 

[ClarenceSeedorf]

Hi everybody... I had a mere and deleted the save of this... I have started a new one and now that I am more onto it with this posting format, I have got spoilers on the new one. You can see it here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=9935313#post9935313

Sorry if you really wanted to see how it played out for the Babylonians... (I would bet on a science win though)

Damn..what an anti-climax Really liked your report though and was curious to the continuation