News: GOTM 127 England - Pre-game discussion

[mad-bax]

PTW GOTM127 England



In this scenario we take on the world as Elizabeth I of England. The English are commercial and expansionist, with a naval UU - the Man O' War.

This game sees us facing the AI at the most difficult PTW level of all - Deity; but fear not. This is "entry level" Deity. Be assured that all of the deity settings are unmodified, but you do have a jungle start - which is nice. However, there maybe some small help along the way to encourage people to take on their first deity challenge. Why not give it a go?

The intro picture for this game is a pleasant if unremarkable photograph of a house in the countryside not too far from my home in the south-east of England. Just for amusement, extra credit will be given to anyone who can explain what is missing from this scene.

Will Britannia rule the waves, or will she be crushed under the keel of the Spanish Armada? I guess there is only one way to find out...

Buckle your swash, gird your loins and otherwise prepare to take on this Deity challenge - and please take the time to let us know how you get on in the spoiler threads.

Anyway, enough punnery; here is your start:

 

[templar_x]

Just for amusement, extra credit will be given to anyone who can explain what is missing from this scene.

that one is just too easy: the clouds and the rain are missing!

if this Deity game is just as easy as this extra task, i will hand in a 1000bc win!

t_x

 

[Kuningas]

There is a plains cow S, SE. I gambit a fast granary. Settle in place.

 

[Loudspeaker]

Hi guys,

I have been looking forward to this GOTM, as I have wanted to join in on a game with you. This will be my first try.

And what a challenge do I get? Deity!!!

As for the starting position, I think it is pretty good as it is. Let's see just how many settlers, we can pour out, before someone decides to pay us a visit, shall we?

 

[mad-bax]

Hi Loudspeaker, and let me wish you a warm welcome to GOTM. Good luck in your game.

Please be sure to play the game with Play the World and not Conquests. I'm sure you are aware of this, but it still sometimes happens...

 

[Loudspeaker]

Thanks, Mad-Bax. I have just started up the game and made sure it is PTW

On a crowded, not-pangea, map, it seems we are in for a tough challenge. I will consider myself lucky, if I can even survive til show down

 

[tR1cKy]

that one is just too easy: the clouds and the rain are missing!

if this Deity game is just as easy as this extra task, i will hand in a 1000bc win!

t_x

It is a common misconception that there's never good weather up there in Britannia. There is, actually. Once per year

Back on topic, i second Kuningas' thoughts on the start location. Settling in place seems the obvious choice, and a granary gambit may be worth trying.

 

[mad-bax]

It is a common misconception that there's never good weather up there in Britannia. There is, actually. Once per year

In the end I moved to Australia.

 

[tR1cKy]

In the end I moved to Australia.

From one extreme to another, one might say

Now, a few more considerations about the start location.

First of all, considering the level, it cannot be that bad, or else there would be 3, maybe 4, submissions in total. Therefore i expect to have time to build at least a decent core around the capital before some AS show up with their settlers, and to find at least 2 different luxes in the vicinity.

Then, the "not pangea" thing kind of puzzles me. Why not simply "continents" or "archipelago"? There must be something peculiar here. Considered what said above, my bet would go on an isolated start, but not too difficult to break away from. In this case, i'd go for Writing at max rather than min, because of the strategic need to make contacts early.

In this scenario, the Great Lighthouse would be a very important asset. Not only it would trigger the golden age, but it would also allow us to get in touch with the AS while, at the same time, preventing the AS to lay foot on our territory and therefore enjoy relative safety. But it needs to be started very early, likely with palace prebuild, or the AS will beat us to it.

Finally, the capital. Settling in place seems the obvious choice, but there's a scout, why not moving it to the mountains Ex2 before actually settling London? However, the choices seem rather limited. Anything that doesn't clear one jungle for free and doesn't hook up immediately the grassland moo doesn't seem worth considering. In short, either settle in place, worker NW or settler SW with worker still NW. But the scout could still reveal something else.

 

[Loudspeaker]

Can someone explain to me, what is a granary gambit? I know that a gambit is a risky sacrifice of something to gain an immediate advantage, but that's about it.

 

[templar_x]

it means that you simply start with building a granary. no troops for securing your lands or exploring foreign lands. that is all it really means. it is a risky, fast growth strategy.
t_x

 

[Più Freddo]

A.K.A. Farmer's gambit. You send out your Settlers unprotected and build the Warriors in the non-capital cities. You then send the first Warriors back to the capital as Military Police if you couldn't squeeze any in when setting up the Settler Factory. The core cities will protect the capital against Barbarians by their mere existence.

 

[tR1cKy]

A variant of it is the so-called settler gambit, in which you start by building a settler, followed by a granary. City 2 will come very early and it will provide the troops for both itself and the capital. It's generally less risky because you will have your defenders earlier than with the classic granary gambit.

Come to think of it, that's what i'll probably use in this game.

 

[mad-bax]

Actually, I believe Kuningas was merely guessing that because it's a deity game and because the map maker is such a nice guy, settling in place will give him a four turn settler factory. I don't believe he was advocating a farmers gambit. Since Loudspeaker is relatively new to the forum I will take the liberty of directing him to the best tutorial ever written for Civ 3. Whether or not there is any use for such instruction in this game is another question entirely.

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3/strategy/deity_settlers1.php

 

[Megalou]

I found tricky's ideas very interesting and plausible and I may also go for GLight. Yet if we toy with the idea that the map is close to reality - as the "not pangea" description suggests but not the jungle start - the historical problem for invaders hasn't exactly been to reach the British isles but to conquer them, so perhaps the GLight won't be necessary. The building of the Lighthouse will depend somewhat on whehter there is a good location for it, but may still cause some scratching of hair.

 

[Megalou]

the historical problem for invaders hasn't exactly been to reach the British isles but to conquer them,...

...except when it came to the Spanish armada, as I recall, an invader that is actually mentioned in the game presentation...

Enough. Good luck.