Other Enjoyable Civilization V Games (Immortal and below)

[The_Black_Vegetable]

I was looking for a game to attempt a quick science victory, and I first tried the Austria game OECG#113: Picking your spots... and your CS. However, I misplayed the game a little. I went 5-city tradition, and got all of the wonders I wanted: ToA, HG, Petra, Oracle. However, the fourth and fifth cities took way too long to get workers, and I was struggling with happiness. 5-city tradition can be great, but you need to make sure you have sufficient happiness and workers, and I failed on both counts, so I abandoned the attempt.

Then, my attention was caught by OECG#105 Good starts give a good feeling, part 1.

Spoiler :

Turn 219 science victory. A pretty good game, but it fell short of being a great game for me on three counts:

1. I love the Shoshone, and the civ is all about getting a strong early start by picking your ruin outcomes. However, we're in quite a crowded corner of the map, and both Brazil and the Netherlands scouted in my direction before I could get my first pathfinder out (those guys are expensive to build, and in games like this you pay the price). As a result, I got only three ruins. I don't usually record ruins in my game, but this time I know there were three because I only got 1 pop ruin, and was forced to start on my first settler at pop 3. Around turn 60 I got two more ruins north of England where Elizabeth hadn't scouted: Trapping which was useful, and an expand from 2 to 3, which was not that impactful. Then finally around turn 160-170 I discovered an island with 5 city states (three of them wanted the camp with the worker in it!) and a bunch more ruins including a pop ruin that went to the capital for pop~30.
2. I generated an engineer in the capital. This was completely unnecessary, and I usually pay better attention, but it meant that with 4 techs to go, I had only 1 scientist left, and had to wait for the 4000-faith one.
3. The game #### me over! At least, I think it did. I never quite got a complete understanding of scientist bulbing, but I think in the picture below I should simply have gotten the tech. In had just normally finished Mobile Tactics, and bulbed my final scientist 'at the start' of particle physics. My micro-management of science the turns before had paid off, because I got the final tech with 12 science to spare! Except, the game did not give it to me :-(
4. I know I said three, but I was still annoyed to lose Temple of Artemis (to Spain, whom I could not have seen yet). In some games, I feel it makes a huge difference to city growth, although here my cities were of a pretty good size (who knows how big they would otherwise have grown?), so perhaps it does not matter so much.

All in all, a fun game, and perhaps I will give 106 a go soon, though I see a devilish dilemma already: settle hill river mountain (as Korea, where the observatory gives a science boost!), or settle hill river coastal, with a couple of fish? Probably the latter.

 

[The_Black_Vegetable]

106, the Korea game, did not go very well. I did not manage enough early worker steals, and ended up having to build too many. I played until around turn 200, but I was not going to get much below T230, if at all, so I abandoned the game. Then I noticed: OECG#115: Settler scouting. I know the description suggested a culture victory, but I wanted to try science on it.

Spoiler :

T140 science victory. I'm a tiny bit disappointed, I thought I might get a sub-140 with three natural wonders nearby (I did not first-meet Gibraltar, but even so). The game felt like it was going really well, though perhaps I was wonder spamming too much. Three city NC (the three wonder cities for which I bought the settlers), then two more cities, and later Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Honolulu with crossbows.

 

[zxcvbob]

OECG#116: Labyrinth
Prepare for a long game even though it is standard pace, with a very late World Congress/UN. We play as the Inca on a Highlands map with mountain ridgelines. The difficulty is King (I meant to set it to Emperor), and all victory conditions are disabled except Domination. The barbarians are raging.

It took me over 400 turns to finish, but y'all are faster than I am.

 

[ForkOfSpite]

OECG#116: Labyrinth
Prepare for a long game even though it is standard pace, with a very late World Congress/UN. We play as the Inca on a Highlands map with mountain ridgelines. The difficulty is King (I meant to set it to Emperor), and all victory conditions are disabled except Domination. The barbarians are raging.

Don't think I've played a raging barbarians game - should be enjoyable. For the full experience, I obviously have to open honor, so I'll likely go full honor into commerce even though I'll sorely miss speedy workers via Liberty+Pyramids. Hopefully done before autocracy, but that would be the ideology (possibly sprinkling in some autocracy policies before finishing commerce if that's how the game plays out).

Opening techs, in order, will almost certainly be Pottery, Archery, Mining, Animal Husbandry. From there, looks like Trapping and Masonry before the National College push (might get Writing before one or both of those though to get started on the Libraries). Might get Sailing before Philosophy if I think the caravan (and time spent on the caravan) is worth it. Mix in Wheel when appropriate (especially if city connections will involve nearly free roads - or if I need early war roads). Beyond that, not sure if I'll go Education or Machinery first. The "prepare for a long game" comment might sway me for Education first, but it'll certainly depend on where the neighbors are.

World Wonders - nothing early (build workers or units instead if I feel like I should build a wonder even if the Great Library build time is shorter than the Philosophy tech time). If Oracle is available when I'm medieval, take it (Zeus too at that point if AIs just refuse to build it). Notre Dame has high priority (maybe try to spawn an engineer for it). Chichen Itza would also be useful but only if convenient. Later, maybe Red Fort to prevent AIs from building it, but only if I have useful cities that can still contribute units while building it. If the game lasts long enough, Big Ben has a high priority.

 

[zxcvbob]

@ForkOfSpite: Whatever your plans are, good luck with that. Your greatest adversary will be the map itself.

 

[raider980]

OECG#116: Labyrinth

My favorite Civ plus the best lux in the game, and total domination; gotta try this one. I already spy 3 good terrace farm locations, and in tundra too; I guess that would count for the tundra without forest pantheon which might make it the only situation I would ever take that pantheon. But then we have salt; I might do it just for the heck of it especially if there are more tundra hills around.

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Tundra faith might be the superior long-term choice - could work out well. But, I'm practically 100% going with Earth Mother. The three visible salt tiles are the first three that'll be worked whereas the tundra terrace farm hills I see are all third ring. Plus, they require construction and worker time. But, if I'm careless with pantheon priority like I was in TSG 278, tundra faith is a nice backup (although I suspect that'll go before Earth Mother unless an AI has a remarkable copper start).

Maybe I'll hurry up and lose TSG 278 so I can get to this game. I'm in a terrible position right now, so there's a reasonable chance that'll happen. With fewer expansions in this game, I'll hopefully avoid the economic disaster I'm facing there.

 

[zxcvbob]

Tundra faith might be the superior long-term choice - could work out well. But, I'm practically 100% going with Earth Mother. The three visible salt tiles are the first three that'll be worked whereas the tundra terrace farm hills I see are all third ring. Plus, they require construction and worker time. But, if I'm careless with pantheon priority like I was in TSG 278, tundra faith is a nice backup (although I suspect that'll go before Earth Mother unless an AI has a remarkable copper start).

Maybe I'll hurry up and lose TSG 278 so I can get to this game. I'm in a terrible position right now, so there's a reasonable chance that'll happen. With fewer expansions in this game, I'll hopefully avoid the economic disaster I'm facing there.

I did not know there was a TSG coming out the same time that I posted this I just finished TSG 278 a few minutes ago. (accidentally stayed up until 3:00 AM playing it last night)

 

[ForkOfSpite]

OECG#116: Labyrinth
@ForkOfSpite: Whatever your plans are, good luck with that. Your greatest adversary will be the map itself.

Certainly a challenging map, but the biggest obstacle thus far isn't travel (although barbs blocking travel might be contributing to the obstacle). It's turn 50, and I'm stuck. Don't know how I'll proceed.

Turn 50 Update

Spoiler :

Screenshot:

Spoiler :

We have three unique luxuries in our area, but unfortunately, the third one is in an extremely awkward location. With advanced map knowledge, I would have moved and settled on Turn 1 - still have two salt and the good deer in ring 1.

So, how should I proceed? One option is to settle that gold anyway (W,NW from the gold). A city there would have the gold tile plus three good terrace farm hills that don't overlap the capital. Working just those four tiles seems at least viable. Another option, and probably the better option, is to just use the honor general to get the gold. Since I'll eventually have that third luxury, I can settle a city without a new unique. I think the best area for that would be north of the capital near the slinger and healing scout. Monty broke through a barb camp blocking that pass, so presumably that's the way to proceed "forward". If it's not, then I guess I need optics to swim around some mountains (might need that anyway, of course). A third option is to settle the open area west of the capital to pick up a duplicate marble. There's some iron which would help faith. There's some terrace farms and some deer too - it's a viable city. However, I think I've already rejected that option - not worth the happiness hit.

One more option, and I was seriously considering it (considering it enough to research writing before masonry) - would no expansions work? My economy is going to struggle either way - at least, it will until I get the honor finisher (and still might if I can't regularly kill units). A second city requires a monument and library, and right now, I only see one gold up by the mountain pass. It's still an option (I haven't put any hammers into the settler shown on the screenshot), but I think writing this post has convinced me to go for the mountain pass city. If the Great Library were only a 10-turn build or so, I might do that (new buildings or units would hurt my already stressed economy), but it's an 18-turn build right now. That seems too late.

Social Policies
Opened tradition first. Finding 20 culture made that an easy decision (not ready to fight barbarians at that time), but I might have done so anyway for the borders. The second policy comes quickly after opening tradition. The next three policies all went into honor, so I have the garrison happiness and culture. The next policy might be the great general because I don't think I'll be able to afford any upgrades (even with the reduced cost). I'll just use the outdated slingers as garrisons - bit of a shame if they keep their withdraw ability, but that can also be unpredictable. Usually, it's better to not rely on chance.

 

[zxcvbob]

When I played it, I settled 4 cities, and one of them was directly on the gold. I didn't want that city to occupy a tile that could have a terrace farm. One city was coastal just so I could build Sydney and Prora someday (Colossus was already taken). Happiness was a problem because there's not enough luxuries. I see you've met one of the neighbors

Slingers do keep their retreat when upgraded. It's handy when fighting, and infuriating when they are supposed to be guarding a worker or improved tile.

You don't have to settle any cities; you can just take Monty's. (if you can find them)

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Ended up using the honor general and settling on the other side of the mountain. Putting the citadel one tile NW would have been more ideal, but unfortunately, that leaves the gold out. The new city wouldn't be able to buy the gold, and I have no idea how long it would take to expand there.

Tiwanaku:

Spoiler :

I've reached construction (Turn 77) and need to think about how to proceed. I've found another reasonable spot that would give access to crab. Still need to explore south of that water though (infested with barbs right now, of course), but it's on the way to Monty. Most likely, I won't settle it though - at least not before NC (and thus, probably not at all). But, I need to think about how I want to get to medieval. Only one policy away from completing Honor, so fillers seem likely. But, if I decide to enter medieval via guilds or metal casting in hopes to minimize pre-commerce policies, maybe I will self-settle a third city.

More likely, I'll just accept the fillers and then, the question becomes which ones? The next tradition policy would help the economy a bit by removing the garrison cost. Liberty and the free worker seem appealing too. Pyramids might still be available.

Turn 107 Update - National College Complete

Spoiler :

Things are looking up now. Gold per turn still's awful, but barb camp gold has been plentiful - have the honor finisher too (Turn 95), so the gold situation looks at least okay. Upgraded the two slingers (50 gold each with the honor discount). The 1 gold/turn road city connection is almost done. Built some more units. Philosophy on Turn 97 and National College on Turn 107. Theology scheduled for Turn 115 - might avoid fillers (other than the tradition opener, of course). Following up the National College with the Oracle, so I hope to have landsknechts soon.

Perhaps most importantly, I upgraded a comp bow to a crossbow on Turn 106. Military Overview:

Spoiler :

That looks like an okay army to start a war! Unfotunately, some of it needs to stay behind for barbs - using the warrior, a spear, and a comp bow for that purpose. Two scouts are garrisoned. The others are available though (crossbow, 2x comp bow, spear, scout) and will be supported by another spear coming from Tiwanaku. We're approaching the time to kill some units, hopefully steal some workers, and push forward. Monty has improved crab and wine - both new luxuries for me. Plus, he has Stonehenge and God of the Sea - might need to avoid converting that capital. Unfortunately, no pyramids. He went Liberty but someone else completed it. Maybe it's in the expansion it looks like I need to go through?

First Target:

Spoiler :

 

[raider980]

What a wild map! The name of this OECG is spot on. Been great fun so far, played to T100 without even realizing it.

Spoiler :

After settling Cusco and exploring our little valley, I decided to build 3 cities in the immediate area to get all the Terrace Farms I could. I wish I would have thought of settling directly on the Gold, not sure why I didn't since I love settling on Luxes. Even though the Salt was right there and the obvious Pantheon, after exploring a bit and seeing all the Tundra Hill Terrace Farm locations I was hoping to be able to get Dance of the Aurora, and I did with the third Pantheon! I don't think I've ever taken it before; always thought it was nigh useless but never thought of Inca in the Tundra. I'm going to have so much faith I'm not going to know what to do with it, going to be better than a Desert Folklore start.

The Barbs are vicious this game. I didn't realize it was raging barbs until this happened and I checked. Lost both my starting Warrior and my Scout!

Its T105 and I still haven't met any neighbors! (I did read Fork's T50 update - in my game Monte didn't make it through the pass yet, and I haven't ventured out further. I'm going to refrain from reading the T107 update until later.) I've had money and happiness issues so far. Never thought I'd say it but I have too many Terrace Farms! I had to purposely not work them so as to not grow too fast and become unhappy. And had to sell all my Shrines to avoid going negative gold; oh well, I won't need them with Dance of the Aurora. I decided to go full Liberty after opening Tradition; will probably do Honor left side next. Wonders so far are Pyramids and Great Library; I'm building Oracle now. Can't believe I got GL, I was trying to build Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, but someone beat me to it and when I looked, GL was still there with only 9 turns to build it so I went for it and got it. Not sure I've ever seen a game where MoH goes before GL. I can see why this is going to be a super long game!

[/ATTACH]

 

[ForkOfSpite]

OECG#116: Labyrinth

Pause on Turn 175.

Spoiler :

Still haven't taken Tenochtitlan. I probably could have taken Tenochtitlan and made immediate peace, but it might even be too late for that now. I haven't officially "retired", so that's what I'll try to do and then somehow try to make it to late-game war.

Economic hell - can't support a large enough army to attack and defend in multiple locations. If I could respond to each barb camp in a timely manner, that would probably work (honor finisher). Need multiple, up-to-date defender groups (crossbow and pike for now since I don't have horses) stationed in various places to respond quickly. I'm also stressed on happiness. Really not sure if I can recover.