I got bored of tweaking my usual starting settings and decided to have a go at the most traditional set-up possible:
Standard Size
Full Random Civ competitors
Pangea
Middle settings for everything else
Regent
I thought I'd have a go at the Mongols because I don't think I've ever played as them before.
Aaaaand, wouldn't you know it, I start slap-bang in the middle of everyone, 2 Civs below me and two above, all of which have more Settler friendly start locations than me. The luxuries near me are the ones on Jungles and Mountains. I get Disease from Floodplains at size 2. My Scouts are adept at discovering 25 Gold or Maps Of The Region. My second city has to be so near a rival capital (That's where the Cows are) that I have to start by building a Temple in my second city. Two turns before the Temple is complete a pair of Warriors from the Civ above me appear. They stroll into an empty city like they 'knew' it was going to be empty...
Oh... give me strength... I'm just too old for this crap.
So I went back to (almost) my usual settings:
Huge Size
Full Random Civ competitors
Archipelago
extreme settings for everything else except Normal AI and Roaming Barbs
Regent
Playing as the English
Aaaand... I start on a teeny weeny island with no fresh water and 75% Desert/Plains, no luxuries, no Iron and right above me (within Coastal Waters travel distance) is a gigantic continent with 2 Civs on it that has both Freshwater and Cows aplenty etc. Oh well, I thought, I've had it worse. I proceed to squeeze 9 towns into the space of 3 or 4 cities.
They both agreed to destroy me somewhere just after Horseback Riding. Oh, the joys of cancelling Science, general Production and a conversion to Republic while I pump Horses to bump off the odd landing Swordsman, Spearman, Warrior or Archer, then pumping Galleys to block off their flow of irritants and provide a means to counter attack.
Ah well, cunning plan number 4276 it is. Negotiated peace with one and then got them to agree to turn the tables on the original aggressor. Gave it a few turns and landed my army on the nearest beach and proceeded to easily take 2 very useful beachhead towns. Now... if I can just grab the Capital (the next city on from the taken towns) it's just a matter of time before I clean up the entire island.
I place my 13 Horses and 2 Spearmen outside their Capital in readiness. Hoorah! No attackers, they're all off killing the other Civ. Next turn I lay siege. The Spearmen are dropping like flies, it's all too easy! But... alas... for every Spearman I kill there appears to be another fully healthy fresh one standing in it's place. They keep dying, but I have to keep attacking. On and on. Until I'm spent. He survived. Now what do I do? I'm already at my limit of units. Oh well, I thought. I'll take the Capital later, at the next technology change.
Turns out that his Capital is one of the best in the game, has the Pyramids, Leonardos and etc etc. So Saltpeter comes along and I get 18 Cavalry and 3 Musketman outside the Capital. Just 2 turns previously the guy completes Shakespear's and goes to size 13. They fall like dominoes to his unlimited Musketmen. And I'm stumped. To add further misery, the border between my beachhead town and the Capital is set up so that my Cavalry can't reach his Capital in one turn, but, as soon as he gets Cavalry, my Beachhead is one Cavalry turn from his Capital. Hills etc...
It's predictable. My crappy towns have too low a Production output to build modern Units with any kind of pace, my income doesn't even equal one quarter of a bought Unit, even at 10% research. As soon as he gets Cavalry I'll lose my Beachhead towns. He was superior to the other Civ on the island and it only benefits him to get those two fighting each other.
I have 2 choices. Either hold out for a Diplomatic Win or just click end-turn until 2050. Well, nope, can't be bothered, especially as it all hinged on the Horse stage anyway way back in BC.
I stuck around for some noseyness and by 1500 I had the world mapped and, yup, nothing near me, even with the Great Lighthouse advantage, I wasn't finding a close 2nd Island to boost my town number tally with (like many of the other Civs got). I was on one of the filler islands.
Just another day in the life of wasted time playing Civ 3. Looks like I'll be spamming start locations again for the next game, nothing like those Cows near Rivers to assist with the 'luck' factor
Standard Size
Full Random Civ competitors
Pangea
Middle settings for everything else
Regent
I thought I'd have a go at the Mongols because I don't think I've ever played as them before.
Aaaaand, wouldn't you know it, I start slap-bang in the middle of everyone, 2 Civs below me and two above, all of which have more Settler friendly start locations than me. The luxuries near me are the ones on Jungles and Mountains. I get Disease from Floodplains at size 2. My Scouts are adept at discovering 25 Gold or Maps Of The Region. My second city has to be so near a rival capital (That's where the Cows are) that I have to start by building a Temple in my second city. Two turns before the Temple is complete a pair of Warriors from the Civ above me appear. They stroll into an empty city like they 'knew' it was going to be empty...
Oh... give me strength... I'm just too old for this crap.
So I went back to (almost) my usual settings:
Huge Size
Full Random Civ competitors
Archipelago
extreme settings for everything else except Normal AI and Roaming Barbs
Regent
Playing as the English
Aaaand... I start on a teeny weeny island with no fresh water and 75% Desert/Plains, no luxuries, no Iron and right above me (within Coastal Waters travel distance) is a gigantic continent with 2 Civs on it that has both Freshwater and Cows aplenty etc. Oh well, I thought, I've had it worse. I proceed to squeeze 9 towns into the space of 3 or 4 cities.
They both agreed to destroy me somewhere just after Horseback Riding. Oh, the joys of cancelling Science, general Production and a conversion to Republic while I pump Horses to bump off the odd landing Swordsman, Spearman, Warrior or Archer, then pumping Galleys to block off their flow of irritants and provide a means to counter attack.
Ah well, cunning plan number 4276 it is. Negotiated peace with one and then got them to agree to turn the tables on the original aggressor. Gave it a few turns and landed my army on the nearest beach and proceeded to easily take 2 very useful beachhead towns. Now... if I can just grab the Capital (the next city on from the taken towns) it's just a matter of time before I clean up the entire island.
I place my 13 Horses and 2 Spearmen outside their Capital in readiness. Hoorah! No attackers, they're all off killing the other Civ. Next turn I lay siege. The Spearmen are dropping like flies, it's all too easy! But... alas... for every Spearman I kill there appears to be another fully healthy fresh one standing in it's place. They keep dying, but I have to keep attacking. On and on. Until I'm spent. He survived. Now what do I do? I'm already at my limit of units. Oh well, I thought. I'll take the Capital later, at the next technology change.
Turns out that his Capital is one of the best in the game, has the Pyramids, Leonardos and etc etc. So Saltpeter comes along and I get 18 Cavalry and 3 Musketman outside the Capital. Just 2 turns previously the guy completes Shakespear's and goes to size 13. They fall like dominoes to his unlimited Musketmen. And I'm stumped. To add further misery, the border between my beachhead town and the Capital is set up so that my Cavalry can't reach his Capital in one turn, but, as soon as he gets Cavalry, my Beachhead is one Cavalry turn from his Capital. Hills etc...
It's predictable. My crappy towns have too low a Production output to build modern Units with any kind of pace, my income doesn't even equal one quarter of a bought Unit, even at 10% research. As soon as he gets Cavalry I'll lose my Beachhead towns. He was superior to the other Civ on the island and it only benefits him to get those two fighting each other.
I have 2 choices. Either hold out for a Diplomatic Win or just click end-turn until 2050. Well, nope, can't be bothered, especially as it all hinged on the Horse stage anyway way back in BC.
I stuck around for some noseyness and by 1500 I had the world mapped and, yup, nothing near me, even with the Great Lighthouse advantage, I wasn't finding a close 2nd Island to boost my town number tally with (like many of the other Civs got). I was on one of the filler islands.
Just another day in the life of wasted time playing Civ 3. Looks like I'll be spamming start locations again for the next game, nothing like those Cows near Rivers to assist with the 'luck' factor