Rule By Might: A stay in Despotism Succession Game

[Prof. Garfield]

I haven't started the game, I wasn't certain at what level people would want to play such a game. My idea was:

Rule One: Stay in Despotism (you probably figured that out from the title)

Objective One: Reserch Future Tech With 4(?) civs still standing
Objectve Two: Concor the World

What are your thoughts? should we play with 6 civs to give the possibility of civil war? Should we play on Diety or Emporer? Should we even atempt such a game...

 

[golem]

I suppose it can be interesting and I would play it. I am not sure we can win - there will be huge unhapiness everywhere. But in fact I have no idea how big.

I would prefer more civs and delty.

 

[golem]

a

 

[Old n Slow]

I'll join in -- prefer the max number of civs, am OK with any level of difficulty. I figure the crux of the game will be to trade, trade, trade.

Conquest will be the easier path, but getting to future tech as a despot might be interesting from the point of view of bragging rights.

Why not diety, future tech before the conquest of the first ai civ?

 

[Prof. Garfield]

It will be interesting, I think. I'll wait a day or so, see if any others have ideas... I believe (though I'm not positive) that cities can recieve more than three food trade routes. If so, it might be a good strategy to send food to several cities that will have all their inhabitents ether scientists or tax collectors, and the rest of the cities are just, for the most part, "farming communities". This will give us money and sci without being at the mercy of the coruption. Or we might try a "we love the despot" strategy, with HG... Maybe after we finish we will find that despotism is better than it's cracked up to be (just kidding). My greatist worry is about production. We can use the first strategy to eliminate the coruption problem, but then we cannot get production. I also wonder what we will do with large cities that we conquer, they might depend on irrigated grassland, that we will not be able to get the extra food from without "we love the despot" days. The point of reserching future tech was to eliminate early conquest, and despotism is quite good for that...
PS. I know that it is realy "we love the emporer".

 

[Old n Slow]

Another thought might be to just quietly sit with four cities, seeing if we can get Marco's & negotiate the world's techs.

Perhaps after a while, we might consider ICSing a bunch of feeder cities to our celebrating main four, thus the camels could roll in for the key wonders -- Col, Marco (maybe HG), Mike's, JSB, the nice ones for SSC, Magellans (maybe Leo's -- with a few cities, it becomes less attractive).

Celebrating despot -- but of course!

 

[Ace]

What are you going to use for food? In despotism, grassland only produces 2 food, and shields and arrows are also limited.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

I set the game up:
Deity, Large Map, 7 Civs, Standard Rules, No Start Tech and we are the Persians.
1: Move settler to wheat; move second settler closser to hut.
2: Begin Irigating wheat; pop hut (pottery).
3: Move to site beside start.
4: Build Persopolis.
5: Alphabet selected (over horsback & cer burial).
6: Irigation finished.
7: Begin road.
8: Finish road.
9-13: Explore with settler.
14:Set persopolis second citisen to ocean, build Pargasade, set to silk, begin warrior.
15: Nothing.

Notes: I irigated the wheat so that we would get food that we will need later on. I selected alph. to go for trade, and as for food, we may have to use food caravans to make up the deficits, as they fill half the food box. I will let my succesor do his thing, but I realy thik that we should get some strategy thought out, as the ruling class must work together to make a strong civ.

LONG LIVE THE EMPORER!!

 

[Prof. Garfield]

Who wants to go next?
And the save:

 

[Prof. Garfield]

Originally posted by Ace
What are you going to use for food? In despotism, grassland only produces 2 food, and shields and arrows are also limited.

We are going to edit the rules so our citisens only eat one food, of course. We could use caravans to get the half storage box full, and have cities that only do that. You are actualy incorect about irigated grassland. With a blackie, an entertainer, a malitta and Hanging Gardins, we can cultivate 50% more from grassland, and one third more from irrigated wheat. My succesor should think about HG and perhaps GL, an our sci probably wont go very far anyway. And we should definately go for Marco's.
O&S, siting with four cities will not do us very good. We will need taxes for our happieness imprvements, and that will keep our sci lower. If we expand enough, we can get enough blackies to let us keep a city in disorder 'till size three, than hire an elvis to keep one inhabitent happy, to offset the unhappy one...

 

[dylandlr]

Edit the rules? Where's the fun then?

 

[golem]

Originally posted by Prof. Garfield


We are going to edit the rules so our citisens only eat one food, of course.

I hope no. Where is a challenge? I can play next turn, but I would play with standard rules only.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

I was joking; I used standard rules too...

 

[golem]

I find out it too,when I took the lunch and started to think. 1:0 for you.

I am taking next 15 turns.

 

[Old n Slow]

Play fast -- I may be out of town this weekend.

Money might come from camels -- but you have an arguement -- only four cities chops off the camels unless we do some excellent trading analysis (which I find a lot of effort.)

Otherwise we could ICS a bit as well.

A celebrating despot would give us the arrow benefits of Monarchy -- recommend that as a plan once trade comes on line.

 

[golem]

Changed worker in Persepolis to forest.
1 – 3250 - nothing
2 – 3200 – rush warior
3 - 3150 – warrior goes west, Alphabet
4 – 3100 - nothing
5 – 3050 - nothing
6 – 3000 - hut, Advanced tribe
7 – 2950 - Persepoli settler
8 – 2900 – another
9 – 2850 – hut – nomad – NONE
10 – 2800 – hut – Advanced tribe
11 – 2750 – Babs on South – Archer , all production switched to settlers
12 – 2700 – Warrior killed
13 – 2650 Bronze working – Finallly!! All production switched to Phalanx
14 – 2600 – Rush Warrior in Pasargadae, no money for Phalanx
15 – 2550 –Warrior in Pasargadae killed Babs Archer with leader, get vet.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

Seems like a good save. Just for the record, if my turn ever comes up on a Sunday, I won't be able to play. Just pass me by, and I will catch up later.

 

[Old n Slow]

Hmmm... Swap out the shields for Phalanxs back to Warriors in two cases (the extra defense doesn't seem to be worth it according to some quality players (as for me, I'm thinking that we may get Leo's so it won't matter) Susa's unit is far along, so we'll let it finish.

2500BC (1) Of the four cities, it looks like Pers is the best (Capital as well) SSC site to date -- so we start HG there. If a better site comes along, we can have it build HG & Col, while Perse switches to Marco's. Meanwhile the wandering warriors continue searching around.

2450 (2) The phalanx that Susa made stepped out last turn (the city imploded) and then stepped back in. Search around the NE area; Hmmm North of Arbela looks to have some nice specials -- including a whale.

2300 (5) Pop = 100K.

2250 (6) Oh ho! a Barb archer appears from the South of Pas -- good thing a stalwart warrior is there.

2200 (7) The stalwart warrior greatly wounds the archer, who dies next turn by the even more stalwart, vet warrior.

2150 (8) Pers grows to size 3 (and again we weren't watching) blows up, Elvis gets the call for a few turns.

2100 (9) Discover Currency, opt for Code over CB, Write & other lesser choices.

2000 (11) Found Antioch in a central location with the Pers settler & Perse Warrior -- (now rehomed.) While we're at it, we move a couple of Pers citizens to the trees -- increasing shields on the effort from three to six, but losing some food (which we would need to move in another warrior for militia support when the city grows again) & arrows (a coin & a beaker per turn.)

1950 (12) East is mapped -- nice but not spectacular. Warriors headed back towards other areas.

1900 (13) Aztecs move Capitol. Rome, Vikings, and Japanese have cities in the top five.

1800 (15) Susa creates a settler (who steps out moving west.) Finish mapping the SE -- looks like a potential site with a whale & fish (but the jungle will need attention if it ever wants to be a major metro area.)

1750 (16) Oops -- start a little movement on someone else's dime. Espy a hut in the NW.

Notes -- no messages on anyone else working wonders; a great site in the NW (111, 7--with two whales, but lots of trees as well.), but we may want to split the specials and have two cities (113, 11 and 110, 6) instead. SW and NW yet to fully map.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

I'm finnished. I played this morning, but couldn't post 'til now...

Turn one:Look around. OnS will be glad that no one died as punisment for his taking an extra turn.

2:English capitol moved to York
Mongol capitol moved to Bokhara
Hut 25 gold
Move setlers west
Move warriors north

3:Find Pasagrade is no beter off on forest than grsland (corruption & waste), change Susa to buf. Move most units west.

4: Barb uprising near Pasagrad (looks like 3 units), at the end of the northern peninsula. THERE ARE SOME STILL THERE!! TAKE UNITS ALONG IF SETTLING THERE!!
Pas settlers compeet; set to silk, explore west, bigin last strech of road linking Susa and Persopolis. Move warrior closer to Pasagrade (or something like that), and send settler south.

5: Par settler south, warrior north and explore west.

6: Tarsus built, set to silk. Par settler south, warrior to Pasa., explor west.

7:Romans begin COLOSSUS
Discover Code of Laws; begin Map Making, 200 000 people.
Rush Pasa. Phlanks. Move settlers south; explore west.

8:Barbs moved to silk, causing settlers to be disbanded, move warrior up to prevent the city to be attacked.

9: Vet war. kills two units one was a horse (other was leader). Explore SW. Move Are. warrior along road (now conecting Pers, Susa and Pasa).

10: Antioch settler built. Move all units west or south west.

11: Hut: TRADE!! Rush some of a caravan in Pas. Units moved West or SW.

12:Arange Arb. to stop growth. Move west or SW.

13: Arb builds settlers, start caravan. Move two Sets north; one set. and war. SW.

Notes: I kept Pers. producing HG, figguring that HG and Marco are both very important, so I decided that my succesor would get to decide...

 

[golem]

I was thinking of wonders that we need. I decided for MPE at first – it can save us very much research and it is essential for trade. The second I decide pyramids – just only because of despotism. The food is very rare here. Next Lighthouse, Colossus, Hanging gardens. – We will see what AIs will do.

1- 1100 – Hut – Legion
2- 1050 – Gordium founded
3- 1000 – Hut 50g, Japanese start HG
4- 975 - nothing
5- 950 – Hut –Legion, Bacra founded, Map making
6- 925 – Persepolis – Marco Polo Embassy
- a lot of negotiation – peace with everybody but Romans.
- Share map with everybody
- Exchange techs –Mathematics, Ceremonial burial, Masonry, Horseback riding, Alphabet, Mathematic, Mysticism, Writing.
- Refused Warior Code, Iron working, Wheel.
- I wanted to give some techs to our key civ – but it is us (strong – light blue). Perhaps later
7– 900 – nothing
8– 875 – nothing
9 – 850 – Peace with Romans, share map, hut Advanced tribe
10 – 825 – start to slowly rush some caravans for next wonder
11 – 800 – Vikings start pyramids
12 – 775 – nothing
13 – 750 – nothing
14 – 725 – Pyramids
15 – 700 – nothing
16 - 675 - nothing, I played a bit more - sorry

I would built Lighthouse next and did some exploring and trade. I would build some cities on our island too. But maybe you have better ideas.