News: BOTM 106 - Germany, Prince - Starts 4 May

[DynamicSpirit]

BOTM 106: Bismarck of Germany.

Can you break out of the cage? This is a very crowded small map. Have fun....

Game settings:
Playing as: Bismarck of Germany
Rivals: 7 AIs
Difficulty: Prince
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No goody huts
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Fractal
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Small
Climate: Temperate
Sea level: Medium


Bismarck is Expansive and Industrious, and you start with Hunting and Mining.

The Expansive trait gives +2 health/city and +25% hammers for worker production and double production speed of Granary and Harbor

The Industrious trait gives +50% wonder production and double production speed of Forge

Unique unit: Panzer (replaces Tank)
The Panzer benefits from: 50% combat bonus against armor units. This compares with the Tank which has: no directly comparable benefits.

Unique Building: Assembly Plant (replaces Factory)
The only difference between the assembly plant and the factory is that the assembly plant lets you turn 4 citizens into engineers - against 2 for the factory.

Starting screenshot

This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):




Note that in this game, any espionage-culture victories will be counted as cultural victories.

To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 4 May 2016, server local time (UTC-6:00). From that date and time, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.

Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 4 Jun 2016.

Here is a link to a list of the differences between Vanilla, Warlords and BtS.

Software Versions

Windows: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the BUFFY mod version 3.19.003 installed. You can download the BUFFY mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.


Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the Mac BUFFY mod version 3.19.003 installed. You can download the Mac BUFFY mod here.

While playing...

Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.

We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of your game outside those threads.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

(And sorry for the late announcement and starting date of this game - I only just remembered I was supposed to be doing this one )

 

[neilmeister]

Gold, wet corn, and a PH to settle on.... yummy

 

[High King J.J.]

Crowded small map means early expansion is critical. At least we have some floodplains and the corn is wet. I'm tempted to settle SE for a coastal river PH but obviously I'll scout the area at the tile 1W of gold and decide after that.
Of course my initial decisions are often misguided and unlucky (I just blame the mapmakers for misdirecting my brilliant strategic decisions ) so don't follow my lead.
Right now it's time to put my white cap on and join the Mayday.

 

[ikotomi]

Unless there's some colossal joke like double gems North of the corn or double corn southeast of the gold, you can't possibly go wrong with gold and corn start, lol.

Early strategy will depend on strategic reveals, but I'm more inclined to go early war knowing we'll be boxed in from the start.

The question is do we go BW or AH? I think going ag, ah slows down an axe rush too much if you don't reveal horses, but I may be vastly overestimating prince AI.

 

[kcd_swede]

Longterm, I like 1E. But for quick start that is so good on a crowded map, 1SE it is.

 

[Jastrow]

I dont see much to be decided for the first 10 turns...

- SE seems obviously best under there settings.
- Worker first is beyond obvious
- Agriculture first must be right.
- Scout can go in any direction, but that is more a guess than a decision.
- Starting with a scout, second build is very likely a warrior

So to me, the first big question is what is the second tech??? BW to get whipping and chopping going, or (Wheel/Pottery) to get cottages and have the (cheap) granary in place to make the first whips more efficient.... I cant decide which is better...

 

[LowtherCastle]

Events?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Events are on - the default setting. BtS events work like goody huts or tech trading or espionage - they are there unless the mapmaker actively selects the option to switch them off. So if you don't see anything listed in the options, that means events will be on.

 

[lymond]

LtC's question might have been rhetorical

 

[High King J.J.]

From BTS info center:
Beyond the Sword expansion modifies the following leader trait:
Expansive +25% worker production

It's easy to see the trait benefits: simply hold the mouse over the box showing your flag, the one with the green/red button in the top left corner that ends the turn, and you'll see the traits shown at the bottom left corner of the screen. Do this when taking the starting screenshot and you'll display the traits for all to see. Not to mention you can read it and post accurate information.
Don't take this as a complaint, just a suggestion for the future.

Still nearly 39 hours before this starts. My Gotm withdrawal symptoms are getting worse.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Events are on - the default setting. BtS events work like goody huts or tech trading or espionage - they are there unless the mapmaker actively selects the option to switch them off. So if you don't see anything listed in the options, that means events will be on.

Thx. Just making sure. They're often turned off, or am I just thinking of SGs.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Events have proven controversial in the past, with quite a few GOTM players liking them and quite a few others saying they dislike them in a competition. With that in mind, I personally aim to switch them off in about half the games I do.

High King J.J. Thanks for the tip. I hadn't realized you could do that. I hope you are able to survive until the game starts

 

[Deckhand]

Events have proven controversial in the past, with quite a few GOTM players liking them and quite a few others saying they dislike them in a competition. With that in mind, I personally aim to switch them off in about half the games I do.

I think they are on in less than half maybe only 20%. I usually turn them off in higher levels and may leave them on in the easier games. Now with two BtS per month, I would expect to see them more. Seldom in the "hard" games and often in the "easy" games.

But it is always good to ask for clarification. We often indicate in settings when they are on (even though default setting, not the default for BOTM).

 

[DynamicSpirit]

From BTS info center:
Beyond the Sword expansion modifies the following leader trait:
Expansive +25% worker production

Thanks, High King J.J. I missed this until LowtherCastle PM'd me. I've now corrected the worker production to +25% in the starting post.

 

[High King J.J.]

What? Botm106 has been open for at least one third of a day and still no spoiler threads?
Have mercy on us and senile, we can't possibly remember what happened in the early game if the first spoiler thread comes days or weeks later...

 

[DynamicSpirit]

What? Botm106 has been open for at least one third of a day and still no spoiler threads?
Have mercy on us and senile, we can't possibly remember what happened in the early game if the first spoiler thread comes days or weeks later...

Gosh, ye of little patience! Have some feeling for a poor mapmaker who hath been out at classes all day and just returneth home exhausted and ready to retire to the deserved comfort of his bed.

I'll get the spoilers out soon. Within the next 12 hours or so. In the meantime you could always - umm - write your spoiler in Word or WordPad or Notepad or something, ready to copy and paste it into your browser the instant the spoilers are open... Yes?

 

[High King J.J.]

Gosh, ye of little patience! Have some feeling for a poor mapmaker who hath been out at classes all day and just returneth home exhausted and ready to retire to the deserved comfort of his bed.

I'll get the spoilers out soon. Within the next 12 hours or so. In the meantime you could always - umm - write your spoiler in Word or WordPad or Notepad or something, ready to copy and paste it into your browser the instant the spoilers are open... Yes?

Thy cunning exceedeth mine, oh exalted mapmaker.
Have no rush on my account, my aging mind has already lost all details of the early years, both in game and RL. I'll relive my outstandingly epic failures to come, later.
Get some

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Spoilers are now up!