[BTS] News: BOTM 302 - Mao Zedong, Deity - Starts Jan 15

[kcd_swede]

BOTM 302: Mao Zedong of China - Deity level.

Welcome to Civ 4 Game of the Month - BOTM 302. These games allow new and old GOTM fans to play Civ 4 single-player in a friendly competitive environment. For each game, everyone starts with the same map and starting save, and you play to see if you can get a better result than everyone else!

Last chance to honor and say goodbye to the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese Zodiac. You will play against asian civilizations in a Deity level showdown. If that sounds frustrating, you will be able to play the adventurer save (not-eligible for medals nor fastet victory awards) at Emperor level. It's a lot funner to win on the Adventurer save than get slapped down in the contender class... but that's just me. You do YOU.


You play as Mao Zedong of China, on Deity difficulty, against 7 AIs and with this start (click the image to see a bigger version):

Start Playing!	Submit your entry!
Competition opens 15 Jan 2026	Competition closes 15 Feb 2026
Once the competition is open, download the starting save >>>here<<< and start playing	When you've finished the game and before the competition closes, upload your victory (or defeat) >>>here<<<

Game and map information:

Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Difficulty: Deity
Options: No barbarians, no goody huts, no random events
Victory Conditions: All enabled
Map: Big & Small
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Temperate
Sea level: Low
Map latitudes: -90°S to 90°N

Your unique Civ:

Mao Zedong is Expansive and Protective, and you start with Agriculture and Mining.
The Expansive trait gives +2 health/city and +25% hammers for worker production and double production speed of Granary and Harbor
The Protective trait gives free City Garrison I and Drill I promotion for archery and gunpowder units and double production speed of Castle and Walls
Unique unit: Cho-Ko-Nu (replaces Crossbowman)
The cho-ko-nu has two first strikes against the crossbowman's single one. But the twist is that it also causes up to 60% collateral damage - so a stack of cho-ko-nu's can be deadly!
Unique Building: Pavilion (replaces Theatre)
The pavillion gives even more culture than the theatre - an extra +25%/turn as well as the fixed +3/turn of the theatre.

New to GOTM? How to get set up for the game

To play the game, you must have Civ4 Beyond the Sword installed and patched to 3.19. You also need to have installed the HOF/BUFFY mod version BUFFY, which you can get here. You can only play on Windows. There's detailed info about getting set up and playing the competition game in this newbies guide.

Rules while playing...

Our cardinal rule is that 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. If we detect that you've broken these rules, we'll reject your competition entry.

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..

Adventurer and Challenger games:

As an alternative, for the GOTM competitions, we often (but not always) provide an easier 'adventurer' and a harder 'challenger' saves.
For this game:

• Adventurer: You will play the same map on Emperor difficulty level. The starting units for all civilizations are the same as those you would normally expect on Emperor level. However, your opponents will start with Deity-level starting technologies, so it may play slightly more difficult than a standard Emperor level game.
• Challenger: No challenger class.

The newbies guide has a full explanation of adventurer and challenger.

@Blake00 @The_J

 

[LowtherCastle]

I'm thankful you guys delayed the deity game because for Xmas I wanted just some fun. This one looks hard. No rivers, slogging research. Hideously backward by t50. Looks like an island teasing us to research Sailing and fail to build the GLH...and I'm an optimist!

 

[Xcalibrator]

Thanks the game, kcd. But are you teasing us with the "Map: ***TODO: FILL THIS IN***"? And you had some typos in the first paragraph: "... and you play to see if you can get a better result than everyone else survive!

Settling in place looks just fine to me, although the immediate extra ivory hammer at the expense of losing the clams (to be used by an island city?) is tempting

 

[Frederiksberg]

The map seems to call for a standard opening of SIP and worker first (@Xcalibrator, I don't think the ivory provides an extra hammer). Like @LowtherCastle says, it's tempting to build the GLH since we want an early lighthouse anyway to get 3 food lake tiles (and an island city would provide valuable trade). A lot depends on the map. If the other civs are nearby, it might be wiser to expand and get a couple more cities built before we are boxed in. As far as I know, there are no crazy warmongers among the Asian civs so with no barbs, this game could be quite survivable for a long time.

 

[kcd_swede]

Thanks the game, kcd. But are you teasing us with the "Map: ***TODO: FILL THIS IN***"? And you had some typos in the first paragraph: "... and you play to see if you can get a better result than everyone else survive!

Settling in place looks just fine to me, although the immediate extra ivory hammer at the expense of losing the clams (to be used by an island city?) is tempting

No, that was a mistake which I am at pains to understand. Pretty sure I changed that text to Big & Small.. maybe forgot to save it. I'll fix the text, and thanks for pointing it out. As for the other correction.... it can stand. Survival is not guaranteed.

 

[Conquistador 63]

As far as I know, there are no crazy warmongers among the Asian civs

Genghis Khan after reading this

 

[LowtherCastle]

“Against asian” writ small. Does that include Russia for example? Or India? Geographically it does, of course. And what about sw asia/middle east?

Khmer
Korea
Mongolia (2 civs)
Japan(?)
China(? 1 more civ)
India (2 civs)

Sw asia:
Persia
Sumeria
Ottoman
Babylon
Byzantine

Russia

With big and small, how will that divide? East and west? Seems like we have to be east.

Nice if the Mongols are separated from us.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Big and small, low sea level
84x52 map
1200-1300 land tiles
Assorted continent and island types

Might be winnable for normal humans.

 

[kcd_swede]

Big and small, low sea level
84x52 map
1200-1300 land tiles
Assorted continent and island types

Might be winnable for normal humans.

 

[MirrorGuard]

so with no barbs, this game could be quite survivable for a long time.

I'm thankful for this no barb setting too. But not for land threat. Barb galleys are far more annoying than barb archer/axeman. They spawn more frequently and there is only 10% defense bonus in water.

Might be winnable for normal humans.

I'm not that optimistic.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Barb galleys

Funny. After reading your post, I’m thinking crap, I’ll have to prioritize metal casting now. Then I remembered no barbarians includes Barb galleys.

 

[Frederiksberg]

Genghis Khan after reading this

Forgot about good ol' Genghis. Hopefully, he doesn't read English...

 

[LowtherCastle]

Forgot about good ol' Genghis. Hopefully, he doesn't read English...

Scientists estimate that around 10% Asians or at least Mongolians have at least a little bit of Genghis in them…

 

[Conquistador 63]

Forgot about good ol' Genghis. Hopefully, he doesn't read English...

The original one didn't.
But there is a modern day (RL) leader who is thought by many to be some sort of Temujin reincarnation, and follow his leadership (lack of) principles, who certainly does.

Back on topic, I will definitely play the adventurer save, thanks for providing one.

 

[High King J.J.]

Deity level and the leader's name is Dung. If I played I might get satisfaction of seeing this pedophile lose. Maybe to the Mongolian serial rapist.
It's hard to see what resources are visible. There's something in the sea (what? I won't do a pixel comparason to different seafoods so I just say something.). I've seen the Oliphant and there's dyes if someone lasts long enough for calendar. I'll pass. (away?)

 

[LowtherCastle]

Deity level and the leader's name is Dung. If I played I might get satisfaction of seeing this pedophile lose. Maybe to the Mongolian serial rapist.
It's hard to see what resources are visible. There's something in the sea (what? I won't do a pixel comparason to different seafoods so I just say something.). I've seen the Oliphant and there's dyes if someone lasts long enough for calendar. I'll pass. (away?)

(out?)

Btw, the full name is Mousey Dung and what you see in the water there are mice fleeing a sinking ship …

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Scientists estimate that around 10% Asians or at least Mongolians have at least a little bit of Genghis in them…

And 100% of Swedes, right....

 

[LowtherCastle]

And 100% of Swedes, right....

I always wondered where that came from. My family tree clearly kept some secrets...

 

[kcd_swede]

And 100% of Swedes, right....

Vikings did meet Asians and invited (or enthralled, in the literal sense) quite a few. They lacked one of the two enzymes needed to metabolize alcohol, so were greatly prized as entertainment. Now we have the internet.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Spoilers please. You can skip the 0 ad spoiler if you want .