Nolition's CivIII Chronicle (Now Playing Game 3: Maya, Emperor)

[vmxa]

Lurker:
Yeah, you should be good on it. Just remember they pay 80%, so it cost them 480 shields to your 600.

Well you tossed away 600 beakers on a std map, by not taking Electronics. How many turns at what level does it take to generate 600? You could use the time to research tanks to build up a couple of cities to 1 or 2 turn tanks.

My top two concerns would be:
1) get rails up asap
2) upgrade to infantry

Then consider my move. Get some of your bombardment units upgraded or replaced with artillery. They are far more useful, just the extra range is huge. They also are more likely to hit and can get 2 HP damage. Rails and a few arty and some infantry mean a bit of peace of mind.

 

[tjs282]

I was astounded that they were willing to pay through the nose for it!! Amazing.

Iron is needed for both Rails and Factories — it's an essential resource for the Industrial Age.

I was thinking that the courthouse would decrease commerce corruption enough to get the 1 gpt maintenance back.

Probably not.

While a Courthouse (plus Policae Station) can knock (distance-)corruption down below the 90% cap, this will only have a significant/noticeable effect (under Republic) if the town was only a little over that cap in the first place (the situation is different under Communism, where distance-corruption is applied at a flat 25% in all towns). But on a dedicated Specialist-farm (which by definition you're usually only going to build in the boondocks), that CH corruption-reduction is unlikely to help you (much).

A fully railed+irrigated Pop6 Grassland-Farm, running 3 Farmers (+ 3 Geeks) will have a total per-turn harvest (before corruption) of 14 food (i.e. 2 food excess), ~2 shields (1 from the town, plus 1/3 Grass-tiles), and ~8-9 commerce (under Republic). After 90% corruption/waste is factored in, that's going to be the minimum 1 shield (which could be converted to 1 gold via Wealth) and 1 commerce (converted to either gold or beakers, depending on which slider-setting exceeds >50%).

If the CH gets you no additional commerce, though, the 1 uncorrupted commerce from the town-tile would (directly) 'pay' the CH maint., or the beaker you'd get (if SCI% >50%) would balance the 1GPT payment from your Treasury, so you're now only breaking even (i.e. worse off than before you built the CH). Building a CH might get you to 2 uncorrupted commerce, if the farm was only a little way beyond your core, and/or you're Commercial, so yes, technically a CH on a Pop6 farm could possibly (directly) make a 'profit', but only if you're running at least 50% TAX or SCI%.

A Pop12 Grassland-Farm gives a slightly 'better' result: you should now be able to run ~6 Geeks, with 5-6 Farmers harvesting ~3 shields and ~14-15 commerce before waste/corruption. So you'll probably still only get 1 shield after building a CH, but your commerce might go up to 3, so now the CH can pay for itself with 'only' TAX% = 30%.

But do you see the problem? Both these situations assume that you aren't running at max.-SCI% (i.e. SCI% + LUX% = 100%). If you are, then you'll be converting no commerce into TAX% at all, so the only way you will be able to pay (directly) for the CH-maintenance is by building Wealth, or by converting one of that Farm's Geeks into a Taxman instead, which reduces the Farm's total output by 1 (because a Geek gives 3 beakers, but a Taxman gives only 2 gold). So whichever way you slice it, the benefit you'll get from a Farm-CH is going to be fairly marginal — especially considering that you had to put 80 shields (and however many turns) into building it in the first place.

I was looking down that path. Is Hoover also a critical wonder that I should be pushing for?

A free (non-polluting) HydroPlant boosting base-shield production by an additional +50% in every Factory-town on a Pan (or Cont)-map? I'd buy that for a dollar!!! (Well, 800 shields!)

Whether you want to conquer the planet or race for space, there's no question Hoovers will get you there faster (plus, I don't think any long-time CivIII player really enjoys playing "Pollution whack-a-mole"!). Ideally you should start a prebuild for Hoovers at the same time as you start your ToE-prebuild, so that when ToE gives you AtomTheory and Electronics, you've got a lock on Hoovers as well.

The problem with your going for Hoovers in the present game, though, is that to be eligible to build it, a town must have a River in (or bordering) at least one BFC-tile.

Of your current holdings (looking at your screenies), only Entremont, Alesia or possibly Tutub are therefore potential candidates, and I would guess that all 3 are hopelessly corrupt '1-shield towns' (?). So to be able to build Hoovers in anything even close to a timely fashion (i.e. while it will still help you win the game!), you would need to pick one of those towns, assign all surplus-population in that town as Civil Engineers, and start the (pre)build right now — or even better, about 30 turns ago... (Is e.g. Alesia still at/near Pop12? Then 6-7 CivEngs = 13-15 SPT = 54-62 turns to build Hoovers...).

You could consider getting e.g. Alesia (back) to Pop12, moving all your military units into it temporarily, and then abandoning Ur (including any Gr/SmWonders you've built there), to insta-jump your Palace to Alesia to decorrupt it for the Hoover-build, but that's risky for several reasons: (1) without having CivAssist to verify it, you can't be 100% sure that Alesia would get your Palace, rather than one of your already Hospitalised Pop13+ core-towns, and (2) even if the Palace did go to Alesia, that would also vastly increase corruption in your northernmost (former) core towns, such that much/all of that painstakingly built infrastructure might instantly become deadweight (and tank your economy).

An MGL would also (I think) allow you to instantly jump your Palace to Alesia (if that's still possible in C3C? Can't remember for sure though), but you'd need an elite-victory for that, i.e. you'd have to be at war already — and the core-corruption problem would remain. Otherwise, your only 'real' hope to build Hoovers yourself would be to (pray that you) pop a SGL sufficiently soon (e.g. for Electronics?), which would allow you to 1-turn rush it...

In such a situation on a larger map (i.e. a dry start with no rivers anywhere in/near your core), where you can't build Hoovers easily yourself, you might also consider selling Electronics to a neighbouring AI-Civ, letting them build it for you, and then conquering it. But on this map only Mursi and Wang are in a good position to do so (Willy's shortly for the chop, I fear), and given their locations and the geography, by the time you're in a position to conquer their Hoover-town, you'll likely pretty much have won the game already anyway (unless you're willing to consider RoP-rape — but then you'd likely be hard-pressed to hold the Hoover-town).

The sanitation tech has not been as useful as I'd expected, mostly because my main infrastructure projects have been to build factories, not hospitals. And my core cities are so dense that pushing them past size 12 doesn't even get them all that large.

(At risk of being 'that guy'...) I told you so, I told you so... ner-ner-ner-ny nyer nyer!

Seriously though, lack of forethought re. town-placement has been a weakness in both the games you've documented so far. For the next one, after you've explored your starting area, but before you start Settling your core-towns, I would strongly recommend your taking a screenshot (with the CTRL-G grid switched on), pasting it into a graphics program, and having a go at making a basic dot/foodmap, which we can then have a look at/critique.

 

[Nolition]

I'm running off to the airport now, just wanted to say that I've read your posts and I will be on a planned hiatus for about a week.

 

[Nolition]

It's been quite a while, but here it is. It took a few turns to shake off all of the rust:

Spoiler Part 12 (hidden for quick page load) :

I spend my first few turns managing my defensive forces and doing some economic management. The railroading project is almost completed. I see that the Dutch are to be destroyed next turn, and strike up a trade for all of the past-era technologies that I'm lacking. They aren't particularly useful, but I want them anyhow and I was thinking that Police Stations may be useful at some point.

Sure enough, the Dutch are finished. It is just myself, the Hittites and the Koreans left to duke it out for control of this continent.

I am well on the way to tanks, while building successive Armies out of my capital.

I feel that this was inevitable at this point. Next game I will be more forward-thinking and come up with a good plan to snag the Dam.

Another tech down. This is feeling like a long research path.

On the same turn that Motorized Transportation finishes, Mursilis turns his avarice to my empire. This may have been a critical tactical mistake, but I refuse his arrogant request under the logic that I would be wanting to go to war with him shortly anyway, and that giving up a luxury resource for 20 turns to my biggest threat would be a very bad move.

This is the point where I realized why I could not build the Hoover in Entrement - I didn't take Electronics. I'd clearly forgotten some of the important details about this game during my hiatus.

A Scientific Great Person! I've never had one of these before, and I start the Golden Age immediately.

This is an overview of the current situation. I was in the process of clearing the forests from my territory, and that was the single one remaining. He's camped a decent number of cavalry on there, and has a few infantry units between Alesia and Entrement. I have two armies in the field (empty) and a third one partially built. There is a mix of infantry and a few riflemen built up in Alesia and Tutub. I am debating filling the Armies with Infantry and trying to clear out some of those units. I can reinforce the vulnerable cities with some infantry and start to whittle him down in strength while waiting for my tanks to get into the field. I suppose I could also see if it's possible to bring Korea into the war.

 

[tjs282]

A Scientific Great Person! I've never had one of these before, and I start the Golden Age immediately.

That was unfortunate, since it's bugged and doesn't work as advertised. Although the game is telling you that your beaker-output has been increased, it hasn't

SGLs should therefore really only be used for rushing GWonders (or SWonders in a pinch): for a non-war game, a late-Industrial SGL might be saved for SETI (Computers), or UN (Fission), if you got either of those for your Modern Age freebie. But you can't get any MGLs while an SGL is active -- so for a war-game, you really need to use him immediately, maybe for Pentagon or Intelligence Agency, if you haven't put those up yet. All moot now however...

But on the bright side, although Mursi beat you to Hoovers, your SGL tells you that he does not have Tanks yet! And even better, that Cav-stack (18 units) likely represents the bulk of his currently healthy attack-forces, since the AI generally only retreats injured attackers to cities, to heal.

So switch all your current Inf-builds (and pointless buildings-in-progress, like CommDocks and Colosseums) to Tanks. When they're done, join 3 of them into an Army to act as a stack-defender (don't bother with Inf-Armies), declare, and use the blitz-attack of your Army and individual Tanks to wipe out that Cav-stack in one go (18 Cavs means you need at least 9 Tanks, and 12 would be better). They're soft targets, so you should be able to get most/all of your vTanks promoted to elite on the first turn of the war -- which means you'll be able to start generating MGLs, so Ur can help build more Tanks, instead of Armies!

Then roll over as many of his newly conquered towns as you can, before he's had a chance to bolster their defences. I wouldn't bother setting up any elaborate build-orders in the captured towns, just set them to Wealth for now. But do have a sufficient block of Infs available (taken from your hinterlands if necessary) to garrison any newly liberated (Cav-vulnerable) frontline-towns over the interturn (2-3 Infs per town). Try to keep the front as short as possible, so you have only a couple of towns to defend per interturn, then you can move all those Infs forwards, advancing along the roads/rails just behind the Tanks. This is where a long, snaky Pangaea can be advantageous.

Consider Mobilising after declaring, so you can build more Tanks quicker. If you run into bad luck and the war stalls, you can sue for peace, but if you can keep it rolling, you should be able to blitzkrieg most of his territory within 5-10 turns after the war starts.

 

[vmxa]

I like to get a choke point, when possible. The land is narrow, so should be doable. You can funnel them into a kill zone. The AI will not attack your infantry when at full HP on the open field. So position a line of them to create the funnel. I normally do it with armies, but not an option here. I have not tried this, but I suspect that a cav under the infantry should be safe and has a chance to do a ZoC hit. A long funnel can take some HP off of the incoming units. Just make sure the kill zone is strong enough.

A town with a wall and a barracks and if you have the tech a civil defense. Stick as many counter attackers in as you can to get in their free shot. Pack in artillery to try to fire on the way in and on counter.

I agree Comm Doc and Colosseum are a waste of shields at any time, especially when at war. Troops and more troops. Cavs are as easy to kill as Knights, but are harder to defend against. So I like to attack them, when possible. INf can handle them, but will take some losses. I have had a ton of elite cavs die on 1 HP infantry, so sick.

 

[Nolition]

That was unfortunate, since it's bugged and doesn't work as advertised. Although the game is telling you that your beaker-output has been increased, it hasn't

SGLs should therefore really only be used for rushing GWonders (or SWonders in a pinch): for a non-war game, a late-Industrial SGL might be saved for SETI (Computers), or UN (Fission), if you got either of those for your Modern Age freebie. But you can't get any MGLs while an SGL is active -- so for a war-game, you really need to use him immediately, maybe for Pentagon or Intelligence Agency, if you haven't put those up yet. All moot now however...

Well, that's extremely annoying! I thought I saw the amount of turns until my next technology decrease from 8 to 7, but I guess this is just a learning experience.

But on the bright side, although Mursi beat you to Hoovers, your SGL tells you that he does not have Tanks yet! And even better, that Cav-stack (18 units) likely represents the bulk of his currently healthy attack-forces, since the AI generally only retreats injured attackers to cities, to heal.

Yes, no tanks. This is his great vulnerability, which I will exploit. The number of Cavalry is not insignificant, but it is also not overwhelming.

So switch all your current Inf-builds (and pointless buildings-in-progress, like CommDocks and Colosseums) to Tanks. When they're done, join 3 of them into an Army to act as a stack-defender (don't bother with Inf-Armies), declare, and use the blitz-attack of your Army and individual Tanks to wipe out that Cav-stack in one go (18 Cavs means you need at least 9 Tanks, and 12 would be better). They're soft targets, so you should be able to get most/all of your vTanks promoted to elite on the first turn of the war -- which means you'll be able to start generating MGLs, so Ur can help build more Tanks, instead of Armies!

I really like the concept of the CommDock building - is it something that I should never build, as a rule? Or is that just due to the fact that I am currently at war?

Consider Mobilising after declaring, so you can build more Tanks quicker. If you run into bad luck and the war stalls, you can sue for peace, but if you can keep it rolling, you should be able to blitzkrieg most of his territory within 5-10 turns after the war starts.

Well - I did want to test this feature. Let's see how it goes.

I like to get a choke point, when possible. The land is narrow, so should be doable. You can funnel them into a kill zone. The AI will not attack your infantry when at full HP on the open field. So position a line of them to create the funnel. I normally do it with armies, but not an option here. I have not tried this, but I suspect that a cav under the infantry should be safe and has a chance to do a ZoC hit. A long funnel can take some HP off of the incoming units. Just make sure the kill zone is strong enough.

This is a situation where I am very happy for the way that this map was generated. I will save my armies and just use the infantry(w/tanks) to kill down the attackers.

A town with a wall and a barracks and if you have the tech a civil defense. Stick as many counter attackers in as you can to get in their free shot. Pack in artillery to try to fire on the way in and on counter.

I don't have as many artillery as I should in order to make this quite effective. But it's not a bad idea, and we'll see if it can work out.

I agree Comm Doc and Colosseum are a waste of shields at any time, especially when at war. Troops and more troops. Cavs are as easy to kill as Knights, but are harder to defend against. So I like to attack them, when possible. INf can handle them, but will take some losses. I have had a ton of elite cavs die on 1 HP infantry, so sick.[/QUOTE]No Comm Doc, got it. I have a natural inclination to want to build buildings like that... but they are expensive and probably not worth it. The 6-3 infantry attacking cavalry is a good matchup.

Writeup:

Spoiler Part 13 (hidden for quick page load) :

The first thing that I do is mobilize for war.

Here is a screenshot of one of the early funneling structures that I create. I am able to take care of the initial wave of attackers while taking few casualties, but the war rapidly bogs down as Mursilis sends 6-10 infantry/marines each turn into my territory. My forces are slowly being depleted under the sheer number of attackers and a persistent bombing campaign from the air.

Looking back, this wasn't the right thing for me to be building at this stage in the war. Without it, I probably could have broken the intensely annoying grinding stalemate a few turns earlier. I don't have a lot of screenshots from this period, but it was basically the exact same turn repeating a dozen times. Very fruitless. This carried on until I started to see him building Tanks, which posed a serious problem and forced me to think about what I was doing and come up with a better plan.

The stalemate does break, however. I ignore a few of his troops and change my focus to Camulodunum. It is a very satisfying feeling to watch bombers snap into pieces as I capture the city!

The Hittites are now willing to make quite a generous peace settlement, but I decide to play one more turn and see what I can bring about.

He moves his forces within striking range of several of my cities, and I decide not to even attempt to kill his offensive units. I use an Army to capture Canton, destroying another bomber and gaining access to Saltpeter!! This feels like a great moral victory, even though the resource is not particularly useful at this point in the game.

I am also able to take Burgidala, making this a very nice turn for my empire.

This is the peace settlement he is now willing to offer me. I haven't accepted it yet, but intend to when I load up the game for my next set of turns.

 

[vmxa]

Lurker:
The AI will send all the units they do not want to have for city defense. Then you just get what they can build per turn as replacements. His empire is is enough to make that a chore, till you finally get enough armies to go on the offense. The problem for you is that the game went too long and they have bombers. The usefulness of the narrow map now becomes a detriment as the ships can bombard towns as many are on the coast. Try to have units in towns getting bombarded by ships or they will destroy structures.

Move units around to keep high HP ones in the towns getting hit and damaged units go to a town that is safe to heal. If you have a fast moving armies, try to find resources like coal, salt, oil to pillage. Just be sure to not leave it on the coast or within arty range (towns). That is, if you can send enough to with stand air bombing.

I cannot even recall the few times I used mobilization. IIRC you cannot build not get culture during that time.

 

[tjs282]

I really like the concept of the CommDock building - is it something that I should never build, as a rule? Or is that just due to the fact that I am currently at war?

CommDocks increase water-tile commerce by +1, so are great SCI%- or TAX%-boosters in core-Metros whose BFC includes >= 7/20 Coast/Sea-tiles (my rule of thumb), in games that you expect to go a long way into the Modern Age (e.g. for a Space-race on a Std+ map, or for a Domination/Conquest on a Large+ Cont-/Archi-map).

But for a war-focussed game on a Small Pangaea, that could be expected to end shortly after MotorTransport has been learned*, CommDocks represent shields (and maintenance) that could/should instead have gone into MOOOOAAAR Tanks.

*(Some might argue that such a game should rather have ended soon after Iron-Working, Horse-Riding, Chivalry, or — at the very latest — MilTrad...! )

I am also able to take Burgidala, making this a very nice turn for my empire.

This is the peace settlement he is now willing to offer me. I haven't accepted it yet, but intend to when I load up the game for my next set of turns.

Shanghai has Oil in its BFC — is that Mursi's only source? If so, you should conquer Shanghai as well, if possible, because that will prevent him from building any more tanks, planes, or modern ships. And Nanking has Dyes (and Iron), so owning that city would also help with your citizens' (un)happiness.

Taking both those towns would therefore not only considerably shorten your war-front, it might also mean that you wouldn't need to sign a peace deal at all.

 

[Toxicman007]

I hope this isn't dead! Really enjoyed your playthroughs, Nolition. I would totally understand if you started fresh and went for an earlier victory, as games that last this long usually become quite dull to play, with long turns and horrible stalemate wars.

 

[Nolition]

I hope this isn't dead! Really enjoyed your playthroughs, Nolition. I would totally understand if you started fresh and went for an earlier victory, as games that last this long usually become quite dull to play, with long turns and horrible stalemate wars.

Unfortunately, real life took over for a while. I got engaged, illegally fired from my job, sued my former employer, settled for a chunk of money and went back to university.

I just finally finished the game, though haven't written anything up.

 

[tjs282]

Unfortunately, real life took over for a while. I got engaged, illegally fired from my job, sued my former employer, settled for a chunk of money and went back to university.

I just finally finished the game, though haven't written anything up.

Given that list, I think your absence from your own thread can be excused...

Congratulations on your engagement. Have you set a date yet?

 

[Nolition]

Given that list, I think your absence from your own thread can be excused...

Congratulations on your engagement. Have you set a date yet?

Due to the fact that I am not an EU citizen, we have not been able to set a precise date yet. It will be happening in the end of August 2018, though.

I will probably type all of this up (or at least post the pictures and let them do the talking). It was basically a series of three successive wars. At several points it became very tedious to keep fighting them, but the stalemate was eventually broken.

 

[Nolition]

I will begin writing the story of how this game ended. The screenshots got somewhat out of order somehow. I've tried to put them all back in order. Let's hope.

Spoiler Part 14 (hidden for quick page load) :

The AI will send all the units they do not want to have for city defense. Then you just get what they can build per turn as replacements. His empire is is enough to make that a chore, till you finally get enough armies to go on the offense. The problem for you is that the game went too long and they have bombers.

This is a very accurate description of how it played out.

Shanghai has Oil in its BFC — is that Mursi's only source? If so, you should conquer Shanghai as well, if possible, because that will prevent him from building any more tanks, planes, or modern ships. And Nanking has Dyes (and Iron), so owning that city would also help with your citizens' (un)happiness.

Taking both those towns would therefore not only considerably shorten your war-front, it might also mean that you wouldn't need to sign a peace deal at all.

I was able to capture Shanghai.

The next turn I am able to take Nanking. At this point, you are correct: I am capable of fighting on further. I decide that I want to push as far as possible, and the war begins to turn in my favour.

I decide that it is very important to consolidate the back lines, and get to work on these trapped Hittite cities.

Finishing flight leads me into the next era. I never built a single aircraft in this game. Perhaps bombers would have made this a lot smoother, but I felt that I was constantly having to continue building tanks to keep up with the constant onslaught of Hittite forces.

This one was too inconsequential to keep.

I decided to change strategies and leave those inconsequential cities on the coast and focus on pushing up closer to the Hittite homelands.

I was not able to hold Chengdu, however.

But I was able to retake it on the following turn.

I can't remember exactly why this city gave me so many problems, but I've got multiple armies attacking it.

The last of these backline cities is mine, and I can now concentrate forces on advancing through the continent.

Agedincum would prove to be the linchpin of this war.

I begin a slow plan to settle in the gaps between these cities so that I will hit the domination cap earlier.

Agedincum is captured.

And retaken.

And captured.

And retaken. I begin to grow tired of this. The Hittites have a right of passage agreement with the Koreans, and are using their railroads to attack my territory. I begin to see if I could come up with a plan to drive them apart.

The city once again falls.

But I am beginning to push the front forward in other locations.

This was a tense battle, but Eindhoven falls. This one is a very nice city. Centrally located, and perfect for staging future attacks against the cities that were formerly the Dutch Empire.

I managed to come up with enough units to recapture this city once again.

All things are temporary, however.

I am going to be honest. By the time that I got to this point I had completely forgotten that I was in a golden age. In my defence, it had been months since I had last played.

For good measure, I retake the city.

 

[Toxicman007]

looking good! Can't be far off now. Personally I would sue for peace with the Hittites, build strong defences near their lands, then attack Korea.

 

[Nolition]

I am (once again) sorry for neglecting this thread. I will finish the writeups for this game in 2018, and then will begin playing the third game in this series. Some of these pictures may be somewhat out of order - I am suffering from some disorganization, but tried to put them back together in a logical way.

Spoiler Part 15 (hidden for quick page load) :

This city was barely defended at all - I didn't realize that they could reach it due to its low culture and neglected to reinforce it. Fortunately, Mursilis seems to lack the units to push on, because he could have rolled through Canton and Tutub without much trouble.

I am slowly gaining cities. I estimate that my production is 1.25 times greater than the Hittites', which is why I am slowly grinding through.

Having a few tank Armies also helps. Yet another formerly Dutch city falls into my hands.

And this one has quite a few wonders!

Xinjian is once again under my control.

I have pushed quite far into Mursilis' territory, and am now in a position to threaten his homelands.

However, he is a much tougher opponent than Korea. I calculate that I should be able to cross the domination threshold by knocking the Koreans out and expanding the borders of a few cities. I end this bitter war, securing a mutual protection pact in the process. To be honest, I played this turn several months ago and I cannot remember exactly why I did so.

I begin rebuilding my military in preparation for war with Korea. In the meantime, I finally finish Ecology. Perhaps it would have been smarter to stop researching altogether and spend the money on rushing the production of my tanks.

 

[Nolition]

Spoiler Part 16 (hidden for quick page load) :

The war kicks off one turn before I am able to build Modern Armour.

This is where that Mutual Protection Pact begins to come back with some unintended consequences. I had to go back and do some reading to see how these things actually worked, but I will never make this mistake again! They do not function like they do in Civ 4!

Tanks are quite enough to handle the Koreans, but I didn't like the idea of stopping research.

Cheju, along with what appears to be a large chunk of the Korean navy, falls.

You can see here that I am pushing out libraries in my new cities using civil engineers in order to pop their borders and put me over the domination cap.

I am very comfortable fighting this war on several fronts due to my technological edge over the Koreans.

The Koreans capture Cheju on their turn (Maybe I do have a picture of this somewhere, but I can't sort it out from this disorganized mess) but I take Arnheim.

Xinjian is destined to be overtaken repeatedly due to my lack of protection.

But I did retake Cheju, again sinking the Korean ships.

He was not able to hold Xinjian either.

I do not even allow him to keep his puny tundra cities.

I have no choice but to watch helplessly as the Hittites seize Pusan right before I can capture the city. They are the least helpful allies I have had the misfortune of working with.

The disappointment does not prevent me from capturing the Korean capital.

And the much more impressive P'yongyang

I was able to steal Hyangsan out from under Mursilis' nose.

I also take the time to fill in a few gaps in my territory, as I am very close now to securing victory.

It is only a matter of time until the Koreans are wiped from the face of the Earth!

One last city to go!

Sure, I'll stay at peace with the Hittites.

The Korean defenders are no match for my Modern Armour Army .

That's the end of them!

 

[Toxicman007]

I've been playing this game for years and years, but I always thought MPPs only came into effect when you are the civ being declared war ON. Seems pretty stupid that a PROTECTION pact also works when you are the AGGRESSOR. Ah well.
You must be close to victory now! What % have you got for land and pop?

 

[Nolition]

Spoiler Part 17 (hidden for quick page load) :

I've been playing this game for years and years, but I always thought MPPs only came into effect when you are the civ being declared war ON. Seems pretty stupid that a PROTECTION pact also works when you are the AGGRESSOR. Ah well.
You must be close to victory now! What % have you got for land and pop?

That was what I thought, as well! When it happened I remember doing some research on it - the pact was triggered when the Koreans attacked one of my cities. It was a very strange situation, and not one that I had predicted. I was about 2% away from Domination at the end of those turns.

While there are enough gaps in my territory that I could win by filling them in, it will be far faster (and more satisfying) to take some territory from the Hittites.

I begin with Ugarit, which is very conveniently located for an invasion force to easily take.

I feel that I've avenged the injustice of having Pusan stolen from right underneath my nose.

I bombard Aleppo with my captured siege weapons and then roll in.

However, my plan hits some setbacks.

I was expecting this result, but Rotterdam flipping was somewhat of a surprise.

While the war is raging, I continue to expand peacefully within the former border territories between the Dutch and Koreans.

Ugarit is mine (again).

I also retake Rotterdam.

And carry on to easily take Taejon.

I'm sure he had a good plan for this.

But victory is mine!

Well then... I am guessing that this is measured by culture.

80% of the world population by the time I rolled over the two-thirds mark in territory.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who read and commented in this thread. I would not have been able to pull this one off without all of you. Have a Merry Christmas, and see you all in 2019 for round 3.

 

[Nolition]

I decide to make the world larger and to increase the level of barbarian involvement to Restless.

My Random Number Generator gave me the Mayan civilization. I have generally left the game settings untouched and will be remaining on Emperor for at least this game due to the extremely challenging nature of the Sumerian game.

These seem like very good traits. I'm starting on a river, but there are mountains within view to the south/west and I can make out what I remember to be a marsh to the north. I remember that these take an excessive amount of turns to clear. Hopefully it will not be a large, intractable swamp. I do not have time to really begin playing today, but I expect that my first move will be to step my worker east and see if there's anything worth moving for. If not, I plan to settle in place, and begin researching either Bronze Working or Alphabet. I lean towards the former.

I intend to play in smaller, frequent segments this game (particularly towards the beginning) so that I can (hopefully!) get further advice on where I should be settling my cities.