Nobles' Club 272: Augustus Caesar's Great Experiment

[Kernigh]

Spoiler 1838 AD T289, Monarch :

To recap, I met Mansa Musa and built some wonders. I used the Great Wall to teleport a barb Archer toward Musa; the barb pillaged Musa's wheat and horse. My wonders so far are the Great Wall (T68), Pyramids (T71), Hanging Gardens (T96), Great Library (T125), Parthenon (T127), Sistine Chapel (T132), Angkor Wat (T164), Spiral Minaret (T171), University of Sankore (T177), Versailles (T197), Taj Mahal (T198). These are in my 3 wonderful cities of Fertile Land, Iris's Rainbow, and Green Water. I want a Cultural Victory.

Because of the Taj Mahal, I enter my 1st golden age in 1380 AD T198, so I can change civics without anarchy. I have been using Slavery and Organized Religion to build wonders, but I have no more world wonders to build, until I learn Democracy and begin the Statue of Libery; so I adopt Caste System and Pacifism in the 1st turn of my golden age, and revert to Slavery and Organized Religion in the 8th and last golden turn. This is unusal for me; I don't recall ever using Pacifism in any previous game.
I am once again refusing to adopt Bureaucracy (to boost my capital). In my recent games, my capital was too weak, or I had too many cities, so I avoided Bureaucracy and preferred Vassalage or Nationhood. In this game, I have a great capital, and I want Bureaucracy, but I had learned Liberalism (Free Speech) and Civil Service (Bureaucracy) on the same turn, so I am skipping Bureaucracy to adopt Free Speech (to boost culture) in the 1st golden turn, and staying in Free Speech after the golden age.

I also learned Printing Press in T198, so each town-from-cottage gets extra commerce from Printing Press and from Free Speech. My capital Fertile Land is without Bureaucracy but has much commerce in a golden age!

I have 3 religions (Confucianism, Taoism, Islam) in my 3 wonderful cities. I want monasteries in the 3 wonderful cities and temples everywhere; I need 9 temples of each religion to put 3 cathedrals in the 3 wonderful cities, but I have exactly 9 cities. I use Caste System to put artists in Iris's Rainbow and merchants in some other cities. After I revert to Slavery, my specialists tend to be priests (Temple, Angkor Wat) or spies (Courthouse).

Pacifism increases great people points. My only new great person during the golden age is a Great Prophet, whom I save for later. My great people before the great age were 3 Great Engineers, 3 Great Scientists, and a Great Spy. I had used all 3 Great Scientists (to make an Academy in Fertile Land, an Academy in Iris's Rainbow, and a specialist in Green Water) and 1 Great Engineer (to hurry the Sistine Chapel). I am holding the other 2 Great Engineers, the Great Spy, and the new Great Prophet. I have more great people than usual because I have so many wonders. Near the end of my golden age, Mansa Musa wins the Great Merchant from Economics (while I miss 3 techs before Economics: Feudalism, Guilds, Banking).

In 1490 AD T209, I learn, "A distant Civilization has circumnavigated the globe!" An unknown civs from another continent must have Optics and a Caravel. Also in T209, Mansa Musa gives his Calendar, Compass, 890 gold, and map for my Nationalism. (It is ironic that I am playing the Roman Empire, and I have so much culture, but I never invented Alphabet nor Calendar; I got them from Mali. In real history, Roman culture is most famous for its alphabet, ABC, and its calendar, July, August, September.) I deduce from Musa's map that he has Optics but hasn't sent out Caravels.

In 1510 AD T212, I meet both Shaka and Brennus. (Shaka says, "The Zulu people always enjoy meeting vulnerable and undefended new civilizations!", which is appropriate, because most of my cities have only a Warrior for defense.) I give Paper to get Optics from Brennus, and Eduction to get Shaka's map. With Optics, I see Brennus's Caravel northeast of Mercuria. Brennus is a vassal of Shaka. From Shaka's map, I see all of the other continents. I learn that Shrine Guy is Indian, with his 3 holy shrines in Delhi. India founded 4 religions on an isolated continent. The other 3 religions are on my continent.

The big continent with Shaka's Zululand, Brennus's Celtia, China, and the Netherlands has almost no religion: I only see Buddhism in Dutch Nijmegen (and I suspect that India put a Buddhist Missionary on a Caravel). Shaka is Oracle Guy; he has the largest civ, so I put all my espionage points on him. One turn later, I meet Mao Zedong of China (as his Caravel reaches me). Around this time, I use a new Great Scientist to make an Academy in Green Water, and I spend a Great Engineer toward the Statue of Liberty.

In 1550 AD T220, I learn Astronomy, and my Caravel meets Ghandi of India and Willem van Orange of the Netherlands. I have open borders with everyone; Astronomy connects my foreign trade routes. If I want a war, I would attack Ghandi, who has the least techs; but I want peace, because I have a path from Astronomy, through Scientific Method, Physics, Radio, to Mass Media, to unlock the last big group of wonders.

Now that I have trade routes with India, I settle 3 more cities in 1550 AD T220: Oceanus Falls (10th, north of Fertile Land), Twilight Woods (11th, east of Vulcan), Talos's Abyss (12th, south of Demeter Forest). These cities have no religion, so they might get a random religion. If I get lucky, a religion will come from India, so I will have another religion toward my Cultural Victory. The city count is now 12 for me, 16 for Shaka, 12 for Mao, 10 for Ghandi, 5 for Willem, 3 for Musa, 5 for Brennus; but Shaka and Mao are in Mercantilism, so there are only 10 + 5 + 3 + 5 = 23 foreign cities for trade. I have 24 trade routes, so I see 1 domestic route in Talos's Abyss. My 3 new cities get Hinduism (Talos's Abyss, 1575 AD T225), Taoism (Twilight Woods, 1590 AD T228), Taoism (Oceanus Falls, 1595 AD T229). Hinduism is the only lucky religion.

I trade techs until I receive Economics (Free Market), then Engineering, both in 1590 AD T228. (So Engineering unlocks Castles just after Economics obsolete Castles!). In T229, I whip the slaves for the Statue of Liberty, and spend my Great Spy on my 2nd golden age, so I can adopt Free Market. I again use Caste System and Pacifism during the golden age. I also use my Great Prophet to complete the Dai Miao (Vulcan, Taoist holy city, 1595 AD T229). During this golden age, I complete the Statue of Liberty (Iris's Rainbow, 1600 AD T230), complete my National Epic (Fertile Land, 1615 AD T233), win the Great Scientist from Physics (1620 AD T234), get a new Great Engineer (T234), and accept Mansa Musa as my vassal (1630 AD T236). I also agree to help Ghandi by giving Printing Press in T234.

Ghandi loses his peaceful reputation by saying, "I will sacrifice fifty warriors in honor of your friendship!" Ghandi is standing in front of the Taj Mahal, which is in my capital. Nice of him to visit!

After the golden age, I complete my only Forum (Roman unique Marketplace) in Fertile Land (1635 AD T237). A Forum boosts great people points, but I didn't build it earlier, because it doesn't help with culture. I also don't have the resources to get happy faces from a Forum. I soon complete my only Custom House in Demeter Forest, but stop building Forums and Custom Houses so I can build Wealth and spread Hinduism.

The big continent gets distracted by war; Mao has conquered Amsterdam from Willem, but Willem has become Shaka's vassal, so Shaka (and his other vassal Brennus) have joined Willem against Mao. This leaves no civ to stop my Cultural Victory (unless Ghandi would invade my civ, because he likes to sacrifice warriors and visit the Taj Mahal). I complete my national Globe Theatre (Iris's Rainbow, 1680 AD T246) and my national Oxford University (Fertile Land, 1690 AD T248). Several things happen in 1725 AD T255: I learn Radio (and enter the modern era), spend a Great Prophet to build the Masjid al-Haram (Mercuria, Islamic holy city), and spend a Great Engineer and a Great Scientist on my 3rd golden age. I stay in Slavery and Organized Religion to build wonders. I complete Broadway (Green Water, 1740 AD T258) and the Kremlin (Demeter Forest, 1745 AD T259).

After my golden age, I complete the Eiffel Tower (Fertile Land, 1770 AD T264). I get Christianity (1800 AD T270) by luck in Oceanus Falls (where it is the 3rd religion, after Confucianism 2nd and Taoism 1st). I research Biology and Medicine and spend a Great Merchant to found Sid's Sushi (Iris's Rainbow, 1802 AD T271). I import more seafood, drop science from 80% to 0%, and raise culture from 10% to 70% in T271, so I am 89 turns away from a Cultural Victory in T360. I complete Cristo Redentor (Green Water, 1806 AD T273) and use it for an easy switch from Representation to Universal Suffrage. Slaves hurry Rock N Roll before I adopt Caste System (T274) and drop culture to 30% (to get more gold). I complete Rock N Roll (Iris's Rainbow, 1810 AD T275). I settle a Great Prophet in Iris's Rainbow (T277). I complete the United Nations (Demeter Forest, 1822 AD T281), but Shaka wins the UN election (T282). I spend 3729 gold to buy Hollywood, then raise culture to 90%. I complete Hollywood (Iris's Rainbow, 1826 AD T283), my national Hermitage (Green Water, 1830 AD T285), and my national Forbidden Palace (Iris's Rainbow, 1832 AD T286). I have finished all my wonders in this game. My last task is to add more temples and cathedrals to Iris's Rainbow while I run toward a Cultural Victory.

Then Shaka declares war after I end my turn in T288. Shaka conquers my southeastern city, Talos's Abyss.

In 1838 AD T289, I would be 46 turns away from a Culture Victory in T335, but must lower my culture rate to fight this war. Shaka brought a Destroyer and 2 Transports. His 6 Infantry, in an amphibious attack, walked over my 2 fortified Musketmen in Talos's Abyss. He then flew in 4 Airships. Shaka had made peace with Mao. Shaka brings his 2 vassals, Brennus and Willem, into the war; I bring my vassal, Musa; while Mao and Gandhi are neutral.

My emergency plan is to adopt Nationhood. I can draft Riflemen and build Cavalry and Cannons. The question is whether Shaka can win the war before I get my Cultural Victory.

 

[jnebbe]

Is there an easy way to setup a demigod game without spoiling anything for yourself? Perhaps by opening a save in notepad++ and replace-all or something?

 

[AcaMetis]

Without spoiling anything, no. Setting up a Demigod game involves knowing whether specific leaders and in play and what team number they have, so it's impossible to avoid learning which AIs are in the game. And of course afterwards you'll have to go into WB in order to give the barbs their techs, so there's the risk of spoiling map knowledge as well.

 

[jnebbe]

Darn I messed around with a WB save a week ago and figured you could do it without spoiling; I guess I'm jumping straight to deity then

 

[Kernigh]

Monarch Cultural Victory at 1898 AD T319.
Normalized score = 28949.

Spoiler 1898 AD T319, Monarch :

My wonders are the Great Wall (T68), Pyramids (T71), Hanging Gardens (T96), Great Library (T125), Parthenon (T127), Sistine Chapel (T132), Angkor Wat (T164), Spiral Minaret (T171), University of Sankore (T177), Versailles (T197), Taj Mahal (T198), Dai Miao (T229), Statue of Liberty (T230), Masjid al-Haram (T255), Broadway (T258), Kremlin (T259), Eiffel Tower (T264), Sid's Sushi Co (T271), Cristo Redentor (T273), Rock N Roll (T275), United Nations (T281), Hollywood (T283). I was running toward a Cultural Victory in T335 when Shaka declared war and conquered my city Talos's Rainbow. This war will decide whether or not I win the game.

It is now 1838 AD T289. Before the war, I had lost only my original Warrior (to a barb). When Shaka attacked me, I lost my 2 Musketmen (in Talos's Rainbow) and my only Caravel (on Shaka's coast). I have slain 6 barb units, and my defending Musketman slew 1 of Shaka's Infantry, but Shaka still has 6 Infantry and 4 Airships in Talos's Rainbow. I now have 1 Rifleman, 12 Musketman, 1 Airship, and some old units (5 Archers, 4 Spearmen, 3 Warriors). Each Musketman has 3 XP from Barracks, but I forgot to promote them; I now promote each to City Garrison I. My Airship had watched the sea route from Shaka's city Ndondakususa to my city Green Water, but Shaka's invasion landed further east (and further away from my wonderful cities).

In technology, I have monopolies on Biology, Medicine, and Mass Media, while Brennus and I are the only civs with Radio. I am missing Artillery, Assembly Line, Railroad, and any later techs like Combustion. Gandhi won't trade Artillery; and Mao won't trade Railroad; but my vassal Mansa Musa would trade Assembly Line, Railroad, or Artillery. I can get Assembly Line (Infantry) if I give Biology and Radio, or Railroad if I give only Radio. I choose Railroad. If I change my mind, I can reload my saved game.

My civics were Universal Suffrage, Free Speech, Caste System, Free Market, Organized Religion. I can use Cristo Redentor to change civics once per turn. In T239, I exit Free Speech and Organized Religion and adopt Nationhood and Theocracy, so I can draft Riflemen. I don't know if Police State would give more hammers than Universal Suffrage. I decide to stay in Universal Suffrage, because Gandhi likes this civic, and because this civic can hurry production. In the next turns, I exploit Cristo Redentor to jump between Nationhood and Vassalage. I can draft rifles, adopt Vassalage, buy some Cannons and Cavalry (with XP from Vassalage), end my turn, then switch back to Nationhood and draft more rifles.

Most of my cities were producing Wealth and employing Caste System merchants. Green Water was producing Culture and employing artists. Iris's Rainbow was producing a Confucian Academy and employing priests. In T239, I drop my culture rate from 90% to 30%, and begin to produce Barracks, Cannons, or Cavalry in most cities. 2 cities begin Levees, and 1 city begins an Airship. I later produce some Stables. My plan is to order my Cannons and Cavalry to attack Shaka's Infantry.

In past games, the AI was bad at ferrying land units across water. An AI might ferry enough units to capture one city (as Shaka has done here), but forget to ferry more units after that. I do expect Shaka to send his navy and pillage all my seafood. I also fear that Brennus, vassal of Shaka, might ferry units, and that Mao might join the war against me and ferry units. Musa'a Apostolic Palace is not obsolete. I control most votes, but gave the AP residency to Musa. If Musa proposes an AP resolution to stop the war, then I take it.

In T293, Shaka asks for a Diplomatic Victory via the United Nations. It fails.

Shaka gets 336 votes from his vassals and himself, but would need 180 more votes to reach 516 votes and win the game. Mao's 183 votes would be enough, but Mao was Shaka's enemy in the last war. I get votes from myself, my vassal Musa, and surprisingly Gandhi. Mao rejects both candidates. (I had refused Mao's recent request to stop trading with Gandhi.) Mao continues to prevent Shaka's Diplomatic Victory for the rest of the game.

In hindsight, I made a mistake by building the United Nations. I want a UN resolution to boost my commerce, but Shaka proposes the wrong resolutions for the rest of the game. (The Kremlin and the UN don't give culture; I put these 2 wonders in Demeter Forest, not in my top 3 cultural cities.)

In T294, Musa asks the Apostolic Palace to stop the war. It succeeds.

The war is over! Shaka votes no, but doesn't defy. He needed to defy the resolution and continue the war to stop my Cultural Victory. Most of his cities lack Confucianism and would have escaped the unhappy penalty for defiance. Shaka did forget to ferry more units, and he pillaged only 1 crab and some of Musa's seafood. Shaka's vassals (Brennus and Willem) have no AP votes, but they follow their master Shaka out of the war.

I vote yes to end the war. I have 5 Cannons and 2 Cavalry near Talos's Abyss, but don't need to retake the city to win the game. (I am missing the Hindu Temple in Talos's Abyss, but I will spread Hinduism to another city and build a temple there.) I immediately revert to Free Speech and Organized Religion and switch most cities back to Wealth and merchant specialists. I would win in 37 turns in T332.

I need 3 legendary cities to win; my capital Fertile Land becomes the 1st such city in T297.

I get my last person in T299. I had expected to roll a Great Merchant; I would have spent my last 3 great people (merchant, engineer, prophet) to launch my 4th and last golden age. Now I have a Great Artist, who can found Civilized Jewelers. I'm not sure whether to found it or launch the golden age. I would win in 28 turns in T327. A golden age lasts only 8 turns, but would provide more hammers and commerce to speed up my win. I save my game, then choose the golden age (before I know about the next war).

After I end my turn on T299, Mao declares war, but makes no immediate attack. In T300, I see one unit from Mao, a Frigate on Musa's coast. In T301, I see Mao's stack of 3 Frigates and 3 Galleons, so I expect Mao to land 9 units, so I switch back to military mode (30% culture, Nationhood to draft Riflemen, cities building military units). In T302, I don't see the Galleon stack, but do see Mao's 1 Transport near my Green Water. In T303, the Transport has landed 4 units (1 Cavalry, 1 Cannon, 2 Grenadiers) by Green Water. I lose 1 Cannon as I slay the enemy stack, then I switch back to 100% culture mode. I feel safe; Mao's stack would not have slain my 9 Riflemen in Green Water. My enemies just don't ferry enough units.
By slaying Mao's stack, I get my only Great General. I waste him by making a Medic III Archer. (I don't need a medic, because I have no combat for the rest of the game. I should have settled my Great General as a specialist, to get more culture from the Sistine Chapel.)

In T305, the Apostolic Palace would have returned Talos's Abyss from Shaka to me, but Shaka defies the resolution. The city has starved to size 1 (while surrounded by my Roman culture) and has 9 defending Infantry. (That's up from 6 defenders; I guess that Shaka built an Airport and flew in 3 Infantry.)

In T309, I sign a 10-turn peace with Mao, while I am 10 turns away from winning the game. Also, a 9-turn Roman revolt begins in Talos's Abyss.

In T315, the Apostolic Palace returns Talos's Abyss.

In T317, Green Water becomes my 2nd legendary city (and Shaka declares war on Mao, but too late to get his Diplomatic Victory).

In 2 more turns, Iris's Rainbow will become my 3rd legendary city, and I will win the game. (Iris's Rainbow is my only city with Sid's Sushi and my only city with a Christian Cathedral.)

The game announces in 1898 AD T319, "Augustus Caesar k16 nc272 has won a Cultural Victory!!!" It also says that as Augustus Caesar, I "displayed the leadership abilities of Augustus Caesar!" Normalized score = 28949.

This is my 16th regular game, my 7th victory (in 16 games), my 3rd Cultural Victory, and my only Cultural Victory before 1900 AD. This scenario, NC272, was good for a Cultural Victory. I knew from the beginning of the game that Augustus was Industrious, and that I had stone near my capital. (Early stone is good for the Pyramids.) I later found marble on the east coast, and grabbed it in time to build the Parthenon. The map unfairly squeezed Mansa Musa between the west coast and my capital, so Musa got stuck on 3 cities, while I settled 12 cities. The ocean protected my civ in war, because my enemies didn't ferry enough units. So the Industrious guy with stone and marble, on an unfairly large land, hiding behind an ocean, won a Cultural Victory.

I never had so many wonders in one game! I'm not sure, but I suspect that I never built the Great Wall nor Versailles before this game. (Now that I built both in this game, I suspect that I have built every world wonder at least once, except maybe Notre Dame.) The wonders and Pacifism and my Forum (I only built 1 Forum) increased great people; I built 16 great people (1 merchant, 1 spy, 2 artists, 4 prophets, 4 engineers, 5 scientists, not counting 1 general), which might be a personal record. I launched 4 golden ages, which might be another personal record.

In past games, my usual pattern was to build Granary, Lighthouse, Forge, Library, Courthouse in most cities. In this game, I kept my usual pattern and also built temples for a cultural victory. In this game, I built

• 12 Confucian Temple, in all 12 cities, because of wonders: each Confucian Temple yielded 1 happy face, 2 hammer, 2 gold, 2 science, 6 culture. I kept Confucianism as my state religion (for my wonders) while every AI adopted Free Religion.
• 12 Forge, for hammers in all 12 cities.
• 12 Granary, for food in all 12 cities.
• 10 Hindu Temple, because I need 9 Hindu Temple to unlock 3 Hindu Mandir in my top 3 cultural city. I built the 10th after I lost a temple at Talos's Rainbow.
• 9 Taoist Temple, 9 Islamic Temple, but only 3 Christian Temple.
• 9 Library; I built these in my first 9 cities, and stopped building them after I adopted Caste System.
• 8 Courthouse; I reached 9 cities without any Courthouses, but as the cities grew, the cost to maintain them also grew, until I built some Courthouses to reduce costs. Some players might avoid the Courthouse and adopt State Property to reduce costs, but I never adopted State Property in this game. I put most of my espionage points from my Courthouses on Shaka, but Shaka put more points on me, so I never saw Shaka's demographics.
• 8 Lighthouse, in 8 of my 9 coastal cities. Earlier in the game, I didn't build a Lighthouse if the city had too few happy faces to grow onto its water tiles. I parked some of these cities on Wealth, until they got religions and built temples. After I got more happy faces from temples and imported resources, I built more Lighthouses.
• 7 Barracks, some after Shaka declared war.
• 6 Theatre, to unlock Globe Theatre.
• 6 University, to unlock Oxford University.
• 6 Monument. I placed a Monument in each of my top 3 culture cities, before the Monument became obsolete; because obsolete Monuments still add culture.
• 6 Stable, all after Shaka declared war.
• 4 Islamic Monastery, 4 Taoist Monastery, 4 Confucian Monastery; I put 3 in my top 3 culture cities, and the 4th to build missionaries during Pacifism, before monasteries became obsolete.

And 3 or fewer of any other building; I had 1 Customs House and 1 Forum.