Role Play Challenge: SuperGenius Darius

[oynaz]

I suggest placing the third city on the forested plains tile 2NE1E of Persepolis - west of the two floodplains. This city will have stone, horses, two floodplains, two grassland, two grassland hills and one plains hill. That sounds like an early production powerhouse to me.
An added bonus is low maintenance.

 

[bestje]

why didn't you tech AH before bw? IMO as persia immortals are probably a better build than axes

also i think i'd have settled your copper city on the tundra square 1N of the copper, immediate access to copper for an axe rush and its also coastal. besides you can't really use the square for anything else the problem is with that copper location it will always be quite a poor city

i'd keep as many cities coastal as possible and then try for GLH and collosus

city 3 i would put 1NW of the hrses on the coastal desert tile

could you post a screenshot showing if pericles has any metal? if he doesn't immortals against archers is almost unfair!

 

[Soirana]

you promissed hammer economy, not cheap trade route tricks.


Correct me you already one level bellow your normal offline games, right? So why you want to step one more level down?

 

[madscientist]

you promissed hammer economy, not cheap trade route tricks.


Correct me you already one level bellow your normal offline games, right? So why you want to step one more level down?

Yes, I am at Monarch difficulty. I found scaling up to emperor makes the RPCs tougher and ends up as a race to try and win versus enjoying the
RPC experience, such as the insane techpaths in the Elizabeth and early Greed games. Zara was at emperor was different in that I played my normal game, the "Gods" were adding teh RPC angles.

You bring up a good point abouth the trade routes with the Great Lighthouse sort of weakening the Hammer economy angle. Then again High production means taking wonders, yet the GLH may be an exception here (as well as the colossus and the Great Library).

I'll think about what wonders I will try for before I play the next segment.

 

[madscientist]

why didn't you tech AH before bw? IMO as persia immortals are probably a better build than axes

also i think i'd have settled your copper city on the tundra square 1N of the copper, immediate access to copper for an axe rush and its also coastal. besides you can't really use the square for anything else the problem is with that copper location it will always be quite a poor city

i'd keep as many cities coastal as possible and then try for GLH and collosus

city 3 i would put 1NW of the hrses on the coastal desert tile

could you post a screenshot showing if pericles has any metal? if he doesn't immortals against archers is almost unfair!

Just seamed like the thing to do at the time! I wanted mining to get production fast (and the silver), and then to chop out Stonehenge. Pericles being my neighbor sort of changed my thinking as the Phalynx are probably one of the best counters to Immortals, although I guess the Mayans would have been worse.

As far as copper city, I wanted it all! Food and be able to work those 2 silver mines, thus I wanted the cows and as many rivesid farms as possible.

Sure our cities may stink, but I am pretty sure Pericles is building some nice ones for us!

 

[bestje]

am i not right in saying that the phalanx and immortal bonuses counteract each other?

well the BW move paid off as you got copper.

Fair enough on the city site i think it gives you a better city, i just don't like coastal tiles in non coastal cities

i don't think collosus is unfair in a hammer economy, GLH is a trade route economy but collosus is just a natural extension of a hammer strategy as it needs MC and forges

 

[madscientist]

Right, the benefits negate each other thus Immortals are weaker just as chariots are weaker to axes. I would rather have axes versus Phalynx. Doesn't matter though, I will have both!

 

[madscientist]

SuperGenius Darius!: PArt II

OK, looks like a very simple plan for old Darius here. Before we get to the important things.

We met a few AIs

Techpath went: writing/Iroanworking/sailing/math/construction/currency

Meanwhile we sent our little fishing boat off exploring to the east to find these Ais. we did so well that we actually got the circumnavigation bonus!!!!! Proving the world round by 1420 BC! Is that genius or what, who needs cottages!.

So after Iron Working

Pericles has iron and there is a source on one of those MANY islands to the west! Well, there is one easy way to get iron here. Before that, and I have no screenshot, is we settled city #3 on that plains hill south of the Mountain.

We also met two more Ais, Gilgamesh and

let the religious wars begin!

So I decided to finally get down to business

This war WAS NOT EASY! I admit I reloaded after a completely disasterous first attempt that cost us the entire invasion force. Yes, I have my moments of utter stupidity and I don't like to ruin everyone's fun with in a good RPC with it!

So after bypassing Corinth on a hill I directly attacked Athens which should have been my option.

So far so good. So I went after Sparta and the iron right away.
This cost me some forces, so I built a good reinforcement stack.

And went after Corinth

Still I lost a good deal of units, but the production game allowed us to rebuild fast.

And not that I am totally blind and thinking only military

I have decided early that the capital is going to be the GP farm, so I am running a pair of scientists here. I also popped a Great Prophet which I settled in teh capital for the extra 2 hammers!.

I then decided to sacrifice even more brave Persian troops to the insatiable Greek god of death by attacked Sparts on a hill defended by an archer which looks like one of Sitting Bulls specialties, CG III!

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is teching decently so we set up some trades

Finally, after a dismal war Pericles last city is captured

All hail, the Greek is dead! One of the worse wars I have fought in a long time, but it got the job done. We now have a continent to ourselves with ALOT of islands to settle.

See...

Actually there is alot of land to settle before we go island hopping.

And the other side of the world

OK, my griping is over.

Time to settle down and get this hammer eco0nomy off and going! Pericles was nice enough NOT to cottage, so that is good.

I say Currency, the Code of Laws before we sink ourselves. Get a Great Scientist or 2. Finish out the continent and get calendar for some happiness. We do have construction so we can build at least collesiums, and pretty fast.

Diplomatically, I am staying atheist for now!

But the way this map is shaping up and the early circumnavigation bonus, I forsee a rather agressive approach coming down the road here!

 

[Kev]

Boy, that other continent looks like it could turn into a mess. FIVE coastal capitals and thus far three religions. Looks like Hindu is going to be the dominant one (Zara, Sury, and Izzy) with Justinian a Buddhist and Giggles in Confucianism. Beware that you might get multiple requests to join wars/stop trading, so perhaps it might be best to decide now who to align with even if you do not choose the religion.

Trying to remember the rules on colony costs. If I have it right, you can settle single cities on those islands without getting slammed - that it's only when you start having multiple cities on them that you get the more damaging costs. Seems like you have a good bunch that you can settle with galleys.

Given the food and hammer theme, I would love to see you take this later into the game and show how Sid's and Mining Inc would work in conjunction.

 

[madscientist]

Given the food and hammer theme, I would love to see you take this later into the game and show how Sid's and Mining Inc would work in conjunction.

I think this is one of my goals, but I did not want to state a rule on that. It will be a decision though between the power of those corps versus the production/food boost of state property. Given SP has been used quite a bit lately in RPCs I am leaning towards the Corps the ORG trait lessons the need for SP.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Sorry to say I might not finish this, but I'll still follow .

GLH/Colossus abuse is obscene with financial coast and bureaucracy . Adding in some bulbs, by the time tech rate slows down it's too late - you're into techs like communism and renaissance military, and the limit on improvements doesn't hurt so much then!

 

[madscientist]

Supergenius Darius: Part III

well, not alot of comments on this RPC and I can't blame anyone. I am finding it a bit dull myself, but nevertheless Darius deserves a played out RPC!

So this segment is full of, NOTHING! Not a war, nor a bad word. Not even a Crusading war on the other continent! I teched along pretty damned well without cottages and...

well let's see.

I started by dropping cities all over the continent

And teched through Currency and found

Not a monopoly, but certainly some trade bait

So pretty fast we caught up in tech! We then went after Code of LAws for those fast courthouses.

And settled more cities

we teched metal Casting and Machinery next opening up

And then proceeded to spam Crossbows in our cities for defense.

Once we got Civil Service I teched Paper followed by education until

Someone got Paper, so I traded it away to get to

And started settling some islands.

Gilgamesh and Justinian are settling to my east and started settling to the west. Island settling are always a problem for me, but who cares. I can simply take what I want a little later, and hopefully they come with some buildings!

Our second GP was

we started a Golden Age to speed up education.

Once we got education

A monopoly, but apparently Isabella is teching it (seen by espionage), so I traded it away

And Spammed out castles real fast considering our production and access to stone.

Soon we are first to Liberalism

I took Nationalism and will start the Taj in our production and Bureacratic capital!

I finished with a trade

Sweet! Never built a single Longbow all game, straight to Muskets.

So we saved there.

A map of our empire

And techs

My goal is to bribe someone into a war next segment!

Overall a rather simple game, as Darius traits are so strong we never missed the CE or SE game. How to leverage the production advantage? I think definitely the military route.

SO I plan to get the Taj, adopt nationalism during the GA, beeline rifles and perhaps utilize the draft to the ut most. Something I rarely do in an RPC, but maybe I can at least leverage that food for units. I also need to find a nice GT city, theaters are going up fast, as well as Collesiums (trying for that Sport's league bonus!).

 

[Matthew5117]

Why so many castles?

Anyways, great start, just a little too easy for you.

 

[monolith94]

So did you ever get the GLH?

 

[Pieman]

Wow, fast segment. So what's the overall aim? Space Race?

 

[AlejDuke]

Hello

I've read all your RPC's Mr.Mad and thoroughly enjoyed them!
This one intrigued me because the 'hammer/food' is foreign to me. Its not SE, its not CE.
But i'm curious, where are those 239 beakers coming from? Trade Routes, natural commerce, where does the hammers/food actually enter into your research? I don't see you building it in any of your cities ...

Anyways Great Game as always!
Divide and conquer seems the sure way to victory here. Production advantage nearly always = win.

On an unrelated note - An idea i had for another one of your RPC's (might have some gameplay issues) Is to become a Vassal of an AI and than winning ... is that even possible? could be risky but very interesting!

Thanks Again Mad

 

[bestje]

the problem with being an AIs vassal is it isn't an inbuilt mechanic we would have to change the game in WB. yes it is possible for a vassal to win by culture/ space race/ diplomacy.

looks like the game is going well Mad, but i'm also curious as to where your commerce is coming from, though for this stage of the game 250 beakers isn't a lot. it looks like good tech trading is what is keeping you in the lead.

i'm also confused why isn't Izzy attacking Justin? can you bribe them to war? once started they won't stop till one or both of them are dead

 

[madscientist]

Commerce is coming from the sea (3 commerce per 2 food), silver (I have 4 or 5 mines), Dye (4), plenty of river tiles, and trade routes to another accessable continent.

And no I have not gotten another wonder after Stonehennge!

 

[Joshua368]

Considering all your production a very unsatisfactory number of other civilizations have been wiped out.

 

[madscientist]

Supergenius darius: Part IV

A rather short round, looking for some input on how to continue here.

To start, the techpath: Guilds/Banking/Printing Press/Replaceable Parts/Rifling.

I maintined excellent diplomatic relations with everyone, tributing some to Isabella. All to get to rifles pretty fast.

One of the few trades

And I got a little unlucky with the next GP

I settled him. I made an attempt at the Taj but came about 15 turns short, apparently the AIs researched nationalism pretty fast!.

We got a few random events

Like the Sports League Quest

Theaters and Collusiums in almost every city, looking for using the culture slider in up coming wars iof need be.

We also got the ice-sculptures random event, granting us a free Great Artist in Pasargaede, which actually has our Heroic Epic and has been spitting out muskets for defenses left and right!.

Finally, we get a key tech

And my idea is to build the Globe Theater in Athens

And just overabuse the Draft here. The Maoiri Statues ar ethere for needed production as I will soon need the Apothacy (UB) here for health.

Sparta also built the Forbidden Palace which cut costs ALOT!

But the most important thing right now

A Monopoly on Rifling!

One last thing to look at

I think I want Theocracy with the draft, but which religion??? I am thinking of Buddhism to keep Isabella off my back and draft at least Combat I rifles.

So I think I can get a pretty large army very fast here, Adopt Nationalism once the GT is built and go get them. I am building Galleons and will tech chemistry next, followed by Military tradition.

Any ideas on who to hit first????