Random stingy isolation map

[vicawoo]

Just randomed a fast game, immortal fractal usual settings. Edit: by quick I meant fast, it is normal speed

Sometimes I play a random game, and it turns out to be abnormally challenging, usually when you end up boxed in with terrible land. Once I was boxed in at the end of a peninsula in a forested start with no commerce. Usually that means rushing, but the AI is Caesar and 20 tiles away. I always regret not saving that game, because it would be great to see how people handled that.

So back to the game, it turned out to be an interesting isolated challenge/teaching map that I thought was worth sharing, because you don't have a lot of lucky resources or great land. So you're going to have to speed your way to astronomy through your own game management abilities.

Randomed shaka, not that it's too important.

The start

A serviceable starting location.

At the cost of giving easily scoutable information away (aka it's safe to read once you've scouted a reasonable amount):

Spoiler :

Isolation, lots of jungle, no great cities, only happiness is a calendar resource.

Post your astronomy strategy.

You could try for wonders. You could go aesthetics. You could go monarchy, or code of laws, or alphabet.

 

[r_rolo1]

I've given a WB look at it :

Spoiler spoiler stuff. Read at your own peril. Contains intel on AI in game and relative positions :

Dunno if you already got there, but the really dificulty of this map is the bigger island, that has biz, zara and Gilga. Unless brennus or monty do not found one of the starting religions , there is a strong chance that you get a solid religiously based friendship between Zara and Gilga ( Biz will be pushed to it's corner most likely ). This is a serious issue , more problematic than the jungle or the lack of resources.

Ohter thing that needs thought is that, depending of the settling, you might find monty pre Optics ( he has a similiar sized island to yours in the NW of you ) , but with no possibility of leveraging that knowledge pre astro besides tech trading ( with monty ). This, added to the fact the last thing you need to thing is about trying to have the double of monty power avert a trigering of a DoW by him means that he will surely lock him in war mode against you unitl he can get a SoD in your land ....

P.S The starting food resources ddo not help either. Two of my gripe list are featured :/

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Not playing this out.

Spoiler :

Settled in place, cottaged capitol, went vicawoo's bulb astro route before even getting civil service. Actually didn't go too badly. Lost lib but won circumnavigation and traded to parity using astro reasonably well.

But, 1 AI = 26% land. No wars fought, no major cities captured, no excuses. That's bull@#$% and it gives zara almost double the average land allotment. If Zara were a human this would be game over.

But zara is not a human. Zara is an AI. In this case, a stupid AI that will love you for running NSR theo and sign a defensive pact.

Welp, 4 religions spread to my borders, I have 9 cities, and as of 1400 AD monty was culture vic leader with <5k in his #3. That's game. Even idiot zara wouldn't win space before 1850 or so, but I could get culture by then.

But god, this game has 0 balance sense. 26% land? Hey firaxis, approximately 1/7?

Not 26%. Failures. In this case, I get to flip that idiocy to my advantage and win easily. Derp.

 

[r_rolo1]

lol ... I have a diferent complaint

Spoiler :

As I predicted , monty got hindu in my game, so it as a budhafest between Gilga ( top do in my game, but not so lopsided as yours ) and Zara ( with biz as getting his corner treatment ) and Boudi and João being largely irrelevant .I also contacted monty in my game soon enough to get him being the usual jerk ad demanding stuff as soon as possible. Being him monty I decided it ws not worth the trouble and was expecting a invasion by him somewhere in the 1800s , but again that was not the trouble ...

The trouble is that Gilga decided to hands full on me the turn he contacted me. I had a AP crusade that delayed things in between, but as soon as the crusade ended instant galleon + rifles invasion ... in the turn I had got gunpowder

I think that if gilga did not locked on me in contact , the game was feasible. I had followed my 3C strat with a detour for Monarchy ( really, sugar ? ) and was starting to backfill up. I had only 7 cities at the time but was preparing to settle the 8th one ... and the tech diff was not widening to the top pack, so space was feasible.

Too bad ... might try again.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

^

Spoiler :

Monty got hindu in my game also, but a buddhist love fest was averted by other religions being founded. Nevertheless they butt-buddied up. What saved me? Well, for long stretches gilgamesh peace-vassaled to Zara and as such couldn't declare. My game was wonky though; gilga had like 6-7 cities and zara had maybe triple that or more :/. There weren't any sumerian cities in zara's list though and they adored each other.

Obviously, monty did not have 20 cities, a tech lead, and a vassal...and he was pleased. I think zara had more than 2x his power (if you added my paltry amount) already though.

 

[vicawoo]

Spoiler :

Yeah, they had AP and Gilgamesh vassaled to Zara when I played. The map doesn't give me much to be thankful for.

Also, I decided to try a monarchy first approach for happiness. And it stunk; you have too many excess hammers which at best end up as maintenance eating warriors. Should have gone alphabet. This would have given me less incentive to get an academy, also relieving pressure to get 3 great scientists out in the early ADs.

TMIT: don't you like a bit of a challenge? If you're good at abusing late game nukes/paratroopers/un stuff, then you should always win games in which you end up even with the AI late game, so the only games that will push you are the ones in which you are behind late game.