Other Enjoyable Civilization V Games (Immortal and below)

[Nizef]

Here is a list of the OECG series so far:

1. Russia (King, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
2. the Mayans (Emperor, Great Plains Plus, Epic speed, Large size, Unmodded)
3. Egypt (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
4. the Ottomans (Prince, Archipelago, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
5. Germany (Emperor, Hellblazer´s Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Modded with Hellblazer´s map pack (v.8))
6. Ethiopia (King, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
7. the Incas (Emperor, Frontier, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
8. the Papal States (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Modded civ to play otherwise unmodded)
9. the Shoshone (Immortal, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
10. Austria (Prince, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
11. Byzantium (King, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
12. Babylon (Warlord, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
13. Spain (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
14. Finland (Emperor, Lakes, Quick speed, Standard size, Modded civ to play otherwise unmodded)
15. Denmark (King, Small Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
16. the Celts (King, Boreal, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
17. the Ottomans 2 (Emperor, Terra, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
18. Brazil (King, Arborea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
19. the Huns (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Large size, Unmodded)
20. Japan (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
21. Polynesia (King, Rainforest, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
22. Greece (King, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
23. the Mayans 2 (Emperor, Highland, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
24. the Incas 2 (Immortal, Highland, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
25. Venice (King, Frontier, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
26. France (King, Highland, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
27. Poland (Immortal, Continents, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
28. Carthage (Emperor, Fractal, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
29. Korea (Emperor, Fractal, Quick speed, Standard size Unmodded)
30. Germany 2 (Emperor, Boreal, Standard speed, Small size, Unmodded), Honor and DomV challenge
31. the Mayans 3 (Immortal, Inland sea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), Piety challenge
32. Rome (King, Boreal, Quick speed, Huge size, Unmodded)
33. Arabia (Emperor, Frontier, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded)
34. Spain 2 (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
35. India (Emperor, Continents, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded)
36. Siam (Emperor, Shuffle, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
37. America (Emperor, Rainforest, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
38. the Aztecs (Immortal, Arborea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded)
39. the Celts 2 (Emperor, Skirmish, Standard speed, Huge size, Unmodded)
40. Germany 3 (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded), "Do it all" challenge
41. Brazil 2 (Prince, Fractal, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded)
42. Egypt 2 (Immortal, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 13
43. Persia (Immortal, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 13
44. Sweden (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 13
45. the Iroquois (Emperor, Arborea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 13
46. Assyria (Immortal, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 14
47. the Ottomans 3 (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 14
48. the Aztecs 2 (Emperor, Pangaea, Standard speed, Standard size, Unmodded), page 14
49. Korea 2 (Emperor, Pangaea, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded), OCC, page 15
50. the Shoshone 2 (Emperor, Mesopotamia map, Quick speed, Standard size, Unmodded), page 15
51. the Netherlands (Emperor, Small Continents, Quick speed, Small size, Unmodded), page 15
52. England (Emperor, Continents, Standard speed, Large size, Unmodded), page 15

 

[Nizef]

OECG#53 We´re not gonna take it

This time we are going for maritime activities. The civ to play is Indonesia on a Tiny Islands map with small size and quick speed. The level is Emperor and QC and QM are turned on as usual. You can go in any direction you want but there is one rule to follow: if one of your cities is actively (by Profet/Missionary) converted to another religion, you MUST switch to a DomV (unless you already are beating up the AIs). Only one AI has a good enough starting island and the rest of the pack are more or less helpless. This is probably one of the easiest games in the entire series. Enjoy!

 

[armcie]

I've just signed up for these forums, but I've been playing these games, and going back to the old GOTMs for a year or more. I must say I really love this series - I'm often tempted to save scum, or just spend ages rerolling for the perfect start in my own games. These ones I stick to the rules, and its definitely improved my game.

As for OECG 53... converting one of my cities is often a casus belli for me, so once Ethiopia sent their prophets it was time for war. I was a bit slack on it - I hadn't settled the iron, and waited for Jakarta's borders to expand before sending out 6 frigates. The Aztec capital caused a bit of trouble in its harbour, but while I was there battleships became available and then they were toast. Dom victory on turn 203.

 

[zxcvbob]

I just finished #53. Diplomatic victory on turn 246; just wanted to see if I could do it and follow the rules. Nobody ever converted my cities, they all had inquisitors or else were Eastern Orthodox just from to religious pressure and it was a decent religion so I kept it. (I did zap its holy city but it eventually converted back anyway) I played mostly-peaceful. I did join Dido in a war with Ethiopia right after I researched Navigation and I captured Addis Ababa, then took another city in the peace treaty (which I razed) Dido eventually wiped him out but it took her a while. And 3 Carthage cities have flipped to me from ideological unhappiness (one was Berlin); I liberated the city state and kept the other two. Now it's time for war.

 

[zxcvbob]

I might play OECG53 again, this time going for a domination victory from the start. Don't know that I will do very much different at the beginning, although I might go Liberty instead of Tradition. I picked Tradition last time mainly because of no fresh water, and I prioritized Hanging Gardens, but I forgot that Indonesia can build a garden (Candi) anywhere.

 

[venice]

I just played number 53 to a turn 93 domination win. Classic 5 city liberty exploration Galleas rush on a very good map for it. I opened monument, worker, shine, and went pottery, mining, sailing, optics, and I pretty much beelined galleass once I had all needed lux techs, engineering NC with liberty finisher along the way. The only somewhat tough nut to crack was the Aztecs with their 16 pop capital that could only be shot from 3 places, but even they weren't too much of a problem once I got 6 to 7 galleass nearby. 2 armies made this a piece of cake.

 

[venice]

I just played number 51 to a turn 183 culture win with no musician balbing and no rationalism. I went for 3 city tradition, although the map is frankly quite weak for growth, and built every wonder I could get my hands on with few exceptions. I bribed all the computers to force through world religion and spammed so many archaeologists that even with every art slot wonder, museums in every city, hermitage, and a cathedral in one city, I almost ran out of space for great works because of how many dig sites there were. My religion was earth mother, tithe, pagodas, religious art, and defender and I managed to in total buy 2 engineers, one for louvre, and the second for broadway. Overall, it was a fun game, but I felt hard-pressed to use the Netherlands abilities in a meaningful way because there was only one polder tile in my empire and it spawned an antiquity site.

 

[venice]

OECG#54 Passive Aggression
This game is a rather unique one. Today we're playing quick warlord Pangea as Austria, with a twist. This game is a one-city challenge and you must win domination. The only way to do this is pretty crazy, have city-states conquer every other capital, but hey, that's what warlord is for. Gifting units will be your best friend, make sure to avoid diplomacy victory by abstaining from world leader votes, and avoid too many great works and you should be fine. As a benchmark, I ended the game between turns 196 and 197 when my city-state took Amsterdam. The observatory in my cap was the only thing that allowed me to win that fast, as it is quite difficult to get CS to take cities pre paratroopers/xcom. This game is amazingly fun, and this is one of the best non-petra caps I've gotten in a long time.

 

[zxcvbob]

I've started #54 but not really sure what I'm doing. Are you allowed to capture cities and raze them? What about liberating captured city states? I'm almost to the industrial era, focusing on science and gold, and building lots of wonders (but very little tourism.)

 

[venice]

The idea was that you never own more than 1 city, even for only part of a turn, meaning no capturing and liberating. Obviously, it's an invented challenge so you can do whatever, but that was the idea.

 

[zxcvbob]

I'm in my first war. Boudicca settled a crappy little city right on my border, then shortly thereafter Enrico asked me for a joint war against her and I accepted immediately. I probably should have said gimme 10 turns to prepare. Enrico doesn't seem to be doing anything, and my nearby CS ally attacked immediately with one pike and a crossbow before I could soften up the city. The pike got killed and the crossbow retreated. I gifted them an infantry and I've bombarded the city to zero strength but they won't attack now. I wasn't really ready to start warring yet even tho' I have the strongest military; this is in the wrong direction for the first offensive, but it's a little maddening anyway. I've already researched Plastics (obviously) and now I'm beelining Ballistics, Satellites, and then Nanotech. I will probably go after Assyria and Netherlands as soon as I get AA-guns and machineguns, with paratroopers coming shortly thereafter. Then X-coms, SAMs, and rocket artillery for the eastern nations. I'm teching so fast it shouldn't take long to get there.

A navy would be nice, but for OCC I thought the mountain and a lot more workable tiles were more important. I'm building roads east and west so my troops can move faster, just like the Romans.

 

[armcie]

I've started #54 but not really sure what I'm doing. Are you allowed to capture cities and raze them? What about liberating captured city states? I'm almost to the industrial era, focusing on science and gold, and building lots of wonders (but very little tourism.)

The way to do it is ally city states, then declare war. You can attack cities and units, but you have to wait for your city state allys to actually take the cities. Gifting them units will make them stronger, and improve their opinion of you.

 

[zxcvbob]

The way to do it is ally city states, then declare war. You can attack cities and units, but you have to wait for your city state allys to actually take the cities. Gifting them units will make them stronger, and improve their opinion of you.

Yes, I understand that, but the city states don't like to attack even when they have overwhelming strength. Or they go off half-cocked before they are ready and then retreat and never attack again. Once I got X-Coms, the wars with Netherlands, Assyria, and Celts went pretty quickly. But no matter how many units I give, (even a GDR to one that has uranium) I can't get them to attack Venice. It's just a little too far away or something.

 

[venice]

I got good mileage out of allying the cs south of Venice, bringing the city to 0, gifting an artillery and some hussars, and just waiting for a few turns after that for the cs to take the city. I probably attacked earlier than you did, but maybe gift rocket arties? Not sure. The cs like to bring a city to 0 before capping in my experience, and since the AI heals before the city-state's turn they usually want ranged stuff.

 

[zxcvbob]

I got good mileage out of allying the cs south of Venice, bringing the city to 0, gifting an artillery and some hussars, and just waiting for a few turns after that for the cs to take the city. I probably attacked earlier than you did, but maybe gift rocket arties? Not sure. The cs like to bring a city to 0 before capping in my experience, and since the AI heals before the city-state's turn they usually want ranged stuff.

I started over. This time I went after Venice first, before he bought all the nearby city states. (he bought two of them) I allied Hong Kong pretty early and declared war just to keep him from buying it with a MoV. I also entered the Industrial era via Fertilizer and then used Oxford for Dynamite instead of Radio or Replaceable Parts. I gave Hong Kong artillery, a lancer, 2 or 3 Hussars, two riflemen, and a Great War infantry. All the while Venice was at zero health from my artillery. Finally they went for it. (I think Hong Kong had the strongest military in the game at that point) Then they captured one of his other cities, and I got someone else to take the last one. Next was the western blood bath; Assyria and Netherlands completely wiped out. Now I'm giving powerful units to a CS right by Edinburgh to start the eastern campaign soon; also swimming some of my units across the ocean to stage them in a CS on the east coast to get ready for Hiawatha -- tomorrow because it's time for bed

This is fun now that it's working.

Edit: Just finished. Domination on turn 251. Nobody left except me and Hiawatha, and he's on his last legs. BTW, the longest war was that first one with Venice.

 

[zxcvbob]

I think I just figured out why Hong Kong was so timid when I gave them several hussars and a lancer -- they had no horses. So with the 50% strategic resource penalty plus the penalty most mounted units have against cities, they were about as weak as spearmen. I wondered why they died so easily when they did attack before the artillery got there. I should have gifted them artillery and a bunch of muskets and pikes (it would have been cheaper too)

 

[raider980]

OECG#54 Passive Aggression

I'm trying this one. Not sure I'll be successful because

Spoiler :

Venice has already taken over the closest CS. And Ashur has captured two CS close to him. I spent too much time building wonders and not attacking.

 

[zxcvbob]

I'm trying this one. Not sure I'll be successful because

Spoiler :

Venice has already taken over the closest CS. And Ashur has captured two CS close to him. I spent too much time building wonders and not attacking.

You're probably okay, because

Spoiler :

I failed when I let Venice take all three nearby CS's. Hong Kong is close enough, barely, and I assume they are still free in your game. Kuala Lumpur is not close enough; its units will embark and start heading east but will turn back even if they don't meet any resistance.
And with Assyria, a CS will capture the former CS's and won't be able to raze them, now they will be close enough to attack Assyria proper. If they were smart they would liberate the CS, then the liberated one will be at war with Assyria and you'll need to give them some units.

 

[venice]

I went pretty heavy warmonger and just flat out warred Venice for workers in ancient and then wared them again when they tried to puppet my cs. City-states don't ever liberate as far as I can tell, which is quite a pain, but with extra city-states and high sea level, there should be a few cs near enough to everyone to kill them. In this game it's imperative to make sure you can't get screwed over by someone and lose before you even start. In my game, Assyria only conquered 1 cs, which made my life easier. TBH, the most important part of this game was probably just getting science and city-state allies fast and messing up Venice early. If you can do that everything else should be doable pretty easily.

 

[zxcvbob]

Yes, harassing Venice right from the start so they can't develop or expand is key. You won't be able to actually get a CS to attack them until much later but that's okay.

I'm trying the Assyria game now. It might take several attempts for me to get it right.