Primitive Conquest Comp Game 1:
Greek Warlord: 2S, large, 7, OFF, Restless T's., alph/bw/wc
Pre-Game Thoughts: I planned to build a fairly big empire to support lots of warriors, dips, boats, phalanxes, etc. I hoped for a big Hides-based
economy, but didn't have any Hides supply for quite a while, so this hope was fulfilled fairly late.
I decided on direct attacks on the AI capitols, rather than prolonged sieges, as in my practice game. But I found that the first Greek units (usually a mix of settlers, phalanxes and warriors) to arrive at the target had nothing better to do than take away good AI tiles. So, I did set up a few sieges, waiting for the right time to attack, and a couple of them paid off nicely.
I decided not to plan on Espionage/Demo/etc, unless things went wrong somehow. But no AI got Feudalism this time, and there were no other major problems. Again, I decided not to help the AI much with science, trying to keep most of them in Despotism all game, and without Feudalism, without competition for WoWs, without great units or fortresses. Still not sure if this is a good idea.
I usually preferred "Contact" with the AI's as long as possible, over alternatives such as "peace" or "war". But this is probably not important.
4000: Athens (1). Nice staring position. I used a helper program to locate specials and huts, and my Settlers seemed to find nice squares near whales pretty easily. So, ICS growth was very fast. I made only settlers, no warriors, for quite a while. Not much luck from huts though.
3960: Sparta (2).
3880: CereBur -> CodeLaws
3780: CodeLaws -> Curr. Also, Greeks make a Settler.
3740: Therm (3)
3700: Corinth (4). Usually I set taxes at 60 per cent, to allow rush buys, and very quick growth (this does not usually delay monarchy much at all). But with so many whales on this map, I didn't seem to need much gold, and set science at 60 until monarchy.
3620: Monarchy discovered, and changed govt. Never changed again, though I strongly considered Republic, and built only one boat per port for a long time, to keep that option open.
3520: First road built (one tile only)
3420: Trade -> MapMaking. I'm disappointed to see that no Greek cities supply Hides, and am uncertain whether to aim for a big trade-based economy as I planned. But I have gotten in the habit of making big ship chains for vans, expansion and troops, so I do make a fair number of vans, ones demanded by overseas AIs. Later some Greek cities could make Hides, and I pumped up trade then.
3360: Argos founded (8th)
3240: Thess founded (12th).
3120: MPE. Probably not needed so early; maybe just an EC habit. I did not want to trade/give many Greek techs, to get AI maps, and I didn't need much AI help with Greek science. But I got the Celt map without any tech gifts, which also revealed Delhi. I got Writing + the Aztec map pretty cheap (for Trade + MapMaking). I also had nearest city info about some US cities. That's enough AI info for now. The Zulus and French were always pretty hostile, so I didn't try for their maps, expecting to find their cities eventually from exploring.
3000: Pyramids. I often build this WoW very early, for fast easy growth. Especially, in games at easy levels that seem likely to last a while (but not in EC games on small maps). A Greek elephant (from a hut) spots Washington. I start making a few barracks in Greece about now.
Stats at 2980BC: 16 cities, Pop .44, monarchy, 45g, 11adv, Mfg56, WoWs:MPE/Pyr, have 2A,1ele,1w,1S,2tri,1v. The Ind/Zu have one city each; the others have 2. IIRC Greeks had "contact" with 3 or 4, nothing with the others.
2920: Construction. This tech was very useful later for making fortresses. I already have writing and pottery, and don't need much else. After my practice game, I decided I probably didn't need advanced techs like Espionage or Fundy. I did keep Greek research going (mainly thru trade) to keep those options open, and to raise my science cap. Also, some WoW's, like Mike's seemed worthwhile. Also, I rather like having seafaring (explorers),
bridge building and republic (though I never used it in this game).
2900: Lighthouse. My rough plan now is send out some Settlers on boats to make colonies, preferably near the AI's. I was not nearly as systematic about this as Magic Gorter. Also, I want to start making a few phalanxes, dips and maybe some explorers.
2720: I lost my elephant while popping huts. An elephant isn't worth much here, since it can't attack, but barbs like these were a nuisance to my cities.
2700: My basic plan is to build some outposts up north ASAP, and to start moving warriors into the USA for my first conquest. In a normal EC game, I go after the farthest civ first. But I was not really playing for speed this time, and I thought that a quick USA conquest would allow me to re-use ("recycle") some attackers. This worked as planned, but "farthest first" does lessen the problem of a useless homeland (see 2640).
2640: I have plenty of Greek cities, but many of them seem strangely useless (compared to a normal EC or EL game). I decide to use them mostly to make settlers, which will make better cities - ports that can support triremes, or high production cities with barracks. IIRC no Greek city supplied Hides yet, but I hoped some new cities might, which did happen.
2620: US starts on HG (which I want).
2540: Aztecs sneak against my Archer, but lose. I give Republic and Construction (fortresses) to the Zulus, mainly to get their map. I had big doubts about this decision, since I had trouble creating a siege in my practice game, when an AI built several fortresses near their capitol. But now I think it's OK - sieges aren't usually necessary. And this time the Zulu's built a fort or two, but abandoned them! Republic also worked out OK (see 2440).
Stats at 2440BC: (my closest save to 2500BC) 39 cities, Pop 1.9M, monarchy, 118g, 18adv, Mfg137, WoWs:MPE/Pyr/LH/(HG). Have 14w,15S,14tri,2v. AI cities: Ce3, Zu2, Fr4, Az3, Am3, In1. Greeks had "contact" with 4 civs, war with Az, cf with USA.
2480: Pause for planning. I want - more barracks, more warriors near Washington, a dip near NY (a distant US city, probably from a hut, near the Aztecs), more roads in Greece, especially in the northeast (I plan ship chain from there to the US and the East). Must do something about US working on HG.
2440: I build HG. The Zulu's form a republic. This is good, I think, for my van profits, and if I decide to make a seige (better than monarchy anyway).
2380: Dip reports that Washington contains 2w's and 1ph, and that a food siege should work there. It's slowly building Colossus, so there's no real hurry to attack it.
2300: A hut-popping warrior on forest survives against 5 barb horses. But it seemed that all the huts were full of barbs, which caused real trouble, so I gradually stopped popping them; never got Feudalism from one; so I never had to reload.
My economy is OK, but not great. I rush-buy mainly in cities with barracks or in the few that can make Hides. Vans are paying approx 200g each.
2280: Washington is under siege and should be losing 4 foods per turn; shrinking within about 4 more turns. I spot an Aztec crusader near the USA; must have come from a hut. IIRC it retreated and I never saw it again.
2240: US declares war. Good! I attack Washington with approx 13 warriors and win, losing approx 6 units (vs w, w, ph).
2180: Great Wall built. Now, Greek settlers can safely move into hostile regions and build cities there (but maybe they can do that anyway at warlord level).
2160: Greek boat spots Paris (I never traded maps with the French). I'm getting some tribute from Az/Ind/Celts; not enough to help me very much, but it helps keep them weak.
2140: USA down (bribed).
2060: The Indians and French both sneak attack and both lose. Dip reports Tenoch will finish city walls soon.
2020; Several vans in, averaging about 300g each.
2000: Zulu's sneak attack with an elephant, which then seemed to wander away (IIRC it died later attacking a Greek phalanx in a Zulu-built fortress). I sabotage city wall production at Tenoch. Celts also declare war, and now I'm at war with everyone, which is OK.
Stats at 2000BC: 71 cities, Pop 5.4M, monarchy, 1700g, 25adv, Mfg281, WoWs: MPE/Pyr/LH/HG/GW. Have 85w,22S,36tri,21v,10ph. AI cities: Ce4, Zu2, Fr7, Az4, Am0, In1. Greeks are at war with the 5 other civs (USA destroyed).
1980: A Greek explorer is attacked by 6 barb horsemen and LIVES! Since Kells is obstructing my troops, and is defended only by a warrior, I razed it, losing two warriors. It's probably the only non-capitol I attacked with warriors.
1960: Something in Cardiff kills my fortified Archer, plus a vet warrior and a valuable van. Dip reports it is a catapult. Roughly 20 Greek warriors attack Tenochtitlan with about 9 losses. Some extra troops have already been sent on to Zulu Land, including two settlers to improve the roads and then make a fortress.
1900: Colossus built in my STC (Boston Op) approx 1900BC. Lost 2 more good units to the Cardiff cat, but I have two settlers charging up...
1880: Greek settlers make a fortress next to Cardiff, and phalanxes enter to defend it. This negates the nasty Celtic catapult there. Mike's built.
1860: Aztecs down (bribed). The Cardiff cat destroys a careless Greek Legion, but it had no real value anyway, since the new fort allows warriors easy access to the city.
There are 4 AI's left, but the game is winding down; only the French still look formidable, and I can recycle the Aztec/Zulu units to them, and bring new ones from the USA and Greece. My trade vans are finally starting to pay off, as my STC/Hides city reaches size 7. I quickly rise from 1000 to about 5000 gold in savings. A bit late, since the game ends soon.
1840: Dip reports Zim has 2 phals, a palace and a temple. It is halfway done making walls, but will probably never finish.
1820: Only 4 warriors needed at Cardiff vs a (non-vet?) phalanx and a wounded cat. Greek victors march on towards Delhi, leaving some Celt cities behind for the dips.
1800: The Greek seige of Zim reduces shield support; 1 defender disbanded. I can easily attack next turn, with about 15 warriors. Last Celt city bribed; Celts are gone.
1780: Zim goes down, to the first 5 warriors. A catapult is spotted in the French countryside, but a Greek warrior quickly takes it out. I shipped about half of the victors in Zulu-Land to Paris before attacking there in 1620BC.
1720: Zulu's destroyed (bribery). Three dips sabotage Paris, but can't take down the city walls [usually, I find three is enough]. India gets math, but probably has no time to make a cat.
1680: Paris walls come down, at a cost of 2 more dips.
1660: Delhi is quite surrounded. The pitiful Indians have only had one city and "1 unit" all game. Apparently, this does not include settlers. I saw one near Delhi, but it disappeared - probably disbanded from lack of shields under Republic. During map trades, I saw the Celts attacking Delhi with some pretty tough guys (eg a catapult, chariot, legion) so I'm pretty sure the unit in Delhi is a vet phalanx. My dip reports that the city needs just ONE more shield to make a horse, but my siege has stopped all production. So, I move most of my vets in for the final attack, but leave all non-vets, phalanxes and a few vets on Delhi's shield tiles.
1640: Delhi's phalanx takes out approx 10 vet warriors before falling. A bit of a scare, though I still had a few more warriors left.
1620: Dip report from 1640 "Paris is rebuilding walls and has 2 (vet) phalanxes". Two more dips were needed to take down the walls, and 13 vet warriors died attacking the city. But I still had about 15 left over. Dips bribe the remaining 6 French cities in the same turn. THE END.
Note: this is where a "fat strategy" (lots of cities and boats) pays off. It wasn't TOO hard to get extra units to Paris quickly - 11 dips and approx 40 other units - when I had unexpected problems there (river, barracks/vets, city walls).
1620BC [End] Stats: 113 cities under monarchy. Spotless rep. 10.9 mil pop, including a few size 7 cities (even without republic). Mfg 417. 31 techs. 5000 gold. Had 124 warriors, 28S, 21ph, 65tri, 11dip, 38v, 7exp, 8misc. (Most vans/units produced after approx 1750BC were put to sleep to save real life time). Lost = 47 warriors + 8 misc.
I don't think my mistakes were too serious. I was a bit careless around the Cardiff catapult. My empire was bigger than needed. My trade efforts paid off slightly late. The French could have nailed me by bribing one of my outpost cities, at a moment when it contained about 20 Greek units, all waiting for a fortress. But I'm generally happy about the game.
Please keep some saves!
Thanks guys for the compliments.
It's fun to try something new, seriously, you should get in.
