One City Challenge

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Allanc

Chieftain
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Feb 10, 2005
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can anyone give me some tips for completing the OCC on Monach and above.

20k seems the obvious route but is conquest a viable way of winning. (I dont really count diplomatic as a proper victory)

whats the best civ to use? Babs seem obvious but maybe more productive squares are a better bonus than cheap buildings.


How do I keep up with the tech pace after the GL conks out? I can see myself dropping out late middle ages.

and what are the best wonders to get? because things like ToA and pyramids are now pretty pointless with only one city.
 
20k obviously, and this helps tremendously with research keep-up as Wonders give tourism gold.

Good wonders:
- SoZ, KT - build effective military whilst still building Other Stuff!
- MoM - same effect as a Cathedral, but without the annoying 2gpt maintenance, or a Temple.
- GLib - essential on DG+, probably useful on Emp, but you can manage without on Monarch and below.
- Shakespeare's is essential in any OCC that plans on going beyond the Medieval.

Winning by means other than 20k:
- Domination is of course impossible!
- Diplo and Space are both do-able.
- Conquest has probably been done up to Emperor, maybe DG (examples, anyone?).

Keeping Up With The Jonses:
- In a non-20k game (where research really isn't important beyond the Middle Ages - you'll have all the culture you need by then), stop research and start stealing techs. Just be prepared for war. On an archi map, laugh at the pathetic AI attempts to attack you and kill with whatever you happen to have available. On other maps, be nice to everyone else and get them fighting your wars for you!
 
does the SoZ and KT units cost upkeep though. Im pretty sure they do.
It would be rare to hit ivory though so SoZ would only be a bonus me thinks.
 
20K is certainly managable, in which case you look at the culture:shield ratio of wonders rather than how useful they are. SoZ is great in this catagory as 200 shields for a 4cpt building is great value but as you say, ivory is highly unlikely except that if you get your workers getting trade routes set up you may well be able to buy it. One of the benefits from playing OCC is that resources are dirt cheap to pick up. Some wonders, such as Pyramids, Sistine and JSB are useless for their effects but are great cultural buildings. Babylon are a great civ to play but I'm coming round to Persia and the Ottomans. Both have industrious workers but the real killer is that they start with Masonry. Get an early SGL and Pyramids is a nice way to start the ball rolling.

On small/tiny pangea maps conquest is easy. It's tougher as the map size gets larger though.

Space is good fun as you can obviously only build one part at a time. Not a problem at the lower levels but as you move up the difficulty spectrum, the AI starts to do more research and that's when the pressure can build. The other problem can be resources. Getting sources of the three required for parts can be a bit tricky but it adds to the fun. IMO Monarch is a good level for this.

One VC not mentioned is Histographic. Not quite so easy to achieve when you remember that score is based upon size of territory and the number of happy/content faces. I did this on Regent with the Celts (I wanted a powerful AA unit) and I'm sure that it's possible on Monarch but I never got around to trying it.

Tips for research? Being scientific helps (especially if you are the only one) but the most important wonder is Shakespeare. Add Colossus, Newton's and Copers and it is possible to hold your own at Monarch unless you come up against a monster AI. Having a few high commerce tiles, such as a few silk tiles, is another bonus. Just know when to research and when to save cash by using the 'what will the AI research next' article and trade well with what you have. Much higher than Monarch and you need to start stealing, as eldar says. Just try to avoid stealing from your neighbours; not quite so easy as they will tend to be the stronger AIs due to the space you declined to take up that they then claimed.

Speaking of trading, you can always get good value from resources that you have. Trading away your only source of a resource may seem a bit stupid but you can normally get a great price for it. I've played a game where I was selling my iron for around 50gpt and buying in another source for around 5gpt! Use your size to your advantage.
 
Use your size to your advantage.
Click to expand...

Ha, never thought of this phrase from that point of view.

I've never played a OCC but I'm going to now.
 
There's one OCC variant I really enjoy: AW Conquest with Persia on a Tiny pangaea. It's less contrived than the HoF Aztec/Inca games and is great fun.

I've won this at Monarch, and gone close on Emperor. And obviously quit if you don't have Iron close by.
 
ok thanks everyone.

im gonna go for a 20k victory on monarch. standard map. not sure who with yet.

Oh and should i just forget about military and buy the AI off?

also is republic/Democracy the best way to go?
 
You want Persia and Ivory, you say...?

persia_ivory_start.jpg
 
For a 20k city, I'd suggest a coastal location, preferably with only the minimal amount of coastal tiles... But a coastal city has more wonder options.
 
For OCC you ideally want both traits to work for you the entire game. Scientific is great in that respect. As for the rest...

Exp: great initially for contacts but useless once you know everyone - same as ever.
Mil: Pointless; you'll never be able to use an MGL to build an Army, which means there won't be any Small Wonders to rush until Espionage!
Agr: You city will grow faster, but once you've hit max size - pointless.
Com: More gold from the city centre, but you won't have any corruption to worry about so slightly useful at best.
Rel: Only one revolt (to Republic, or Monarchy if you're playing OCC AW!), so the benefit of cheaper buildings is all that remains. Not bad for 20K attempts, not that brilliant otherwise.
Ind: Once all 12 or 20 tiles are improved, those faster workers aren't much use any more. But you will get the shield capacity up and running quicker. Extra city tile shields might prove useful (i.e. the difference between 24 and 25 spt, or 33 and 34...).
Sea: Guarantees a coastal start for the Colossus, but then guarantees a coastal start for zero-shield tiles. Curraghs will get you faster contacts. A bit more gold in the city tile.

I'd roughly order the usefulness as: Ind, Rel, Sea, Com, Agr, Exp, Mil

Thus putting Persia/Ottos top of the list, then Babylon, then Byzantines, and finally Greece/Korea in the first tier for OCC.
 
ok. i played with the ottomans wining a 20k victory on monarch about 1840.

I got pretty lucky in the AA getting an SGL after going philosphy/literature. this enabled me to finish pyramids then rush ToA and start on libary (AI got MoM) oh and i had the oracle as well as my first wonder.
Picked up JSB, shakespeare, copurnicus.

had an absolute nightmare trying to get coal as none of the AI seemed to want to have more than 1 piece. Didnt get railroading till modern age :~

Tech wise I was ok managing to keep up with teh pace.

I think that a conquets victory would be much more of a challenge. I didnt have a war and once i was in republic i diddnt even have a military!
 
Allanc said:
I think that a conquets victory would be much more of a challenge. I didnt have a war and once i was in republic i diddnt even have a military!
Click to expand...

No military? I would think the others would kill you for sport.
 
No, I suspect it involved an Agri civ on a low difficulty setting and an 80% water pangaea. Probably Maya.
 
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