[BTS] News: BOTM 274 Catherine, Emperor - Starts June 1, 2024

[kcd_swede]

BOTM 274: Catherine of Russia.

[img=right]https://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/images/botm274civ.jpg[/img]

Enjoy a game as Catherine the Great of Russia. You contenders will play at Emperor level, and if you need a bigger challenge you can play the challenger save at Deity level. To aid you (or cause you all sorts of unexpected problems) the Trans-Siberian Railroad is already built. Good luck and have fun! Barbarians start with archery on both saves.

Game settings:
Playing as: Catherine of Russia
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Emperor
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No goody huts, no random events
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Pangea
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Cold
Sea level: Medium
Map latitudes: -90°S to 90°N


Catherine is Creative and Imperialistic, and you start with Hunting and Mining.

The Creative trait gives +2 culture/city each turn and double production speed of Colosseum, Library and Theatre

The Imperialistic trait gives +100% great general emergence and +50% production of settlers

Unique unit: Cossack (replaces Cavalry)
The cossack is very similar to the cavalry, but has +50% strength against other mounted units. So it should easily defeat cavalry in battle!

Unique Building: Research Institute (replaces Laboratory)
Besides the science benefits of the laboratory, the research institute gives its city 2 free scientists out of the box.

Starting screenshot

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



Adventurer Class bonuses:
No Adventurer Class

Challenger Class Equalizers:
Play the game at Deity difficulty level, but normal emperor-level starting units for all civs. Barbarians start with archery.
To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 1 Jun 2024, 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 30 Jun 2024.

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 3.19.005 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.

 

[kcd_swede]

Just in time for the weekend! Thank me!

 

[Frederiksberg]

Great timing @kcd_swede

SIP or move to the blue circle? Maybe first scout to the south to see if the river plains hill catches another food source to replace the cow.

Nice gimmick with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I'm sure it will have lots of non-paying barb customers in the early days.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Perfect timing, kcd. Thank you!

 

[MarleysGh0st]

Just in time for the weekend! Thank me!

Thank you!

SIP or move to the blue circle? Maybe first scout to the south to see if the river plains hill catches another food source to replace the cow.

Nice gimmick with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I'm sure it will have lots of non-paying barb customers in the early days.

What about moving the scout 2NW to see what else is around the PH? Or does the scout lose a movement point crossing the river?

I had the same idea about the railroad. Another thought I had was that Siberia isn't a very productive landscape, in terms of game mechanics. How similar will our Siberia be? We have been warned that it's a Cold climate.

 

[Xcalibrator]

No movement penalty when crossing a river onto flat treeless land, so the scout could move 2NW, but...

No love for the river plains hill to the settler's SE? I'd send the scout there for a look.

 

[MarleysGh0st]

No love for the river plains hill to the settler's SE? I'd send the scout there for a look.

The river's nice. Looks like three forests past the hill, so the scout would only see the square 2S (and maybe 3S) of its starting position to find something to replace the cow.

 

[MirrorGuard]

I have little knowledge about Russian history. What was the purpose for building the Trans-Siberian Railroad? As a part of efforts to secure an all-season entrance to the Pacific Ocean? To preempt the far east local people from rioting? Or against Manchuria?

 

[kcd_swede]

I have little knowledge about Russian history. What was the purpose for building the Trans-Siberian Railroad? As a part of efforts to secure an all-season entrance to the Pacific Ocean? To preempt the far east local people from rioting? Or against Manchuria?

I don't know... but Google or Wikipedia probably does.

 

[lymond]

I don't know... but Google or Wikipedia probably does.

Truth

I actually studied this period of Russian history in college, but like most things it is long forgotten.

From Wiki - the main purpose appears to have been primarily economic:

The Trans-Siberian Railway,[a] historically known as the Great Siberian Routehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway#cite_note-2 and often shortened to Transsib,[c] is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East.[1] Spanning a length of over 9,289 kilometers (5,772 mUnlike the rejected private projects that intended to connect the existing cities that required transport, the Trans-Siberian did not have such a priority.iles), it is the longest railway line in the world.[2] It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the east.

During the period of the Russian Empire, government ministers—personally appointed by Alexander III and his son Nicholas II—supervised the building of the railway network between 1891 and 1916. Even before its completion, the line attracted travelers who documented their experiences.[3] Since 1916, the Trans-Siberian Railway has directly connected Moscow with Vladivostok. As of 2021, expansion projects remain underway, with connections being built to Russia's neighbors (namely Mongolia, China, and North Korea).[4][5] Additionally, there have been proposals and talks to expand the network to Tokyo, Japan, with new bridges or tunnels that would connect the mainland railway through the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido.[4]

In the late 19th century, the development of Siberia was hampered by poor transport links within the region and with the rest of the country. Aside from the Great Siberian Route, roads suitable for wheeled transport were rare. For about five months of the year, rivers were the main means of transport. During winter, cargo and passengers traveled by horse-drawn sledges over the winter roads, many of which were the same rivers but frozen.[11]

Before 1880, the central government had virtually ignored these projects, due to weaknesses in Siberian enterprises, an inefficient bureaucracy, and financial risk. By 1880, there was a large number of rejected and upcoming applications for permission to construct railways in order to connect Siberia with the Pacific, but not Eastern Russia. This worried the government and made connecting Siberia with Central Russia a pressing concern

Unlike the rejected private projects that intended to connect the existing cities that required transport, the Trans-Siberian did not have such a priority.

 

[antimony]

No movement penalty when crossing a river onto flat treeless land, so the scout could move 2NW, but...

No love for the river plains hill to the settler's SE? I'd send the scout there for a look.

I tend to agree here. The only thing that would tip the scales for the blue circle 2NW is seafood but the scout won't be able to tell. Even without seafood I like having all those hammers with IMP. Scout SE could tell us about any extra resource or just generally how good a bureau capital we could get around the river.