SGOTM 02 - Team CFR

[Balbes]

Super! Second-best thing to read after return from hospital (first-best would have been having a last enemy city steaming waiting for ME to take her )!

That's what you get for going ahead and building the Oracle when I said to delay it But there is something still left to do: try to win from the 1160AD save in 5 turns. It's a fine exercise in tactics, seriously.

 

[Obormot]

Team Smurkz had an interesting start: they managed to pull off a CS-slingshot building the Oracle in Kyoto by overflow from whipping (and they popped mining too ). They didn't take full advantage of it though. They should have built an academy in Osaka then, delaying GPP in Kyoto, to make it a great research center after palace moving (which they didn't). They also researched meditation which is not a good thing in either case (compass & astronomy are not lighbulbable after CS, but optics still is).

 

[Ronald]

Congratulations to a wonderful game. I enjoyed reading your thread and learned a lot.

 

[Balbes]

Xteam certainly gets the prize for originality. Their start was unlike any other. Too bad they went overboard trying to outwit the scenario designer, and failed to weigh it against the kis principle. But their creativity can't be denied.

Also, gentlemen, how do you like that stack of Kublai Khan's in the 1595AD save of Team 5th Element? Suddenly, I feel reeeely glad to be alive, if you happen to remember this Jagged Alliance 2 quote.

Most of the teams are falling severely behind in tech. With some luck, we may get to witness a nuclear war or two.

 

[Balbes]

Smurkz's thread is lively and engaging, much more so than our boring thread. They had managed a string of early successes but didn't really know what to do with the advantage. I think they're going to improve quickly, and be very respectable opponents in the next SGOTM.

 

[Balbes]

Team Isamu settled in the same spot as we did, on turn 5, and popped Mining from the hut also on T5. I guess this effectively concludes any argument there might be.

 

[Harok]

Luck is involved in every game, sometimes you lose to a barb when you shouldn't, other times you win with low odds, sometimes you pop a tech from a hut and other times you get barbs. The best players (teams in this case) learn to overcome the times when they are unlucky and really take advantage when they have good luck. You guys certainly pressed your early luck into a great game with planning and solid execution.

Well played team CFR.

 

[TDK]

Congrats CFR, nice discussion and execution.

I do think popping the hut was the wrong decision in this game(to illustrate, please visit Team FUBAR ), but I really like your desicion to go for the religion when you did pop Mining.

TDK(at team One)

 

[Balbes]

You're right TDK! It wasn't me who played the initial turns, but it would've completely slipped my attention that the ingame protection against popping barbarian warriors too early on is no longer present when you have more than one city. I think there was only one team who did realize the significance of this possibly game-breaking action, and left the hut alone.

Too bad about FUBAR's decision to abandon their game. They could still win by conquest and really make a name for themselves.

 

[Mad Professor]

Well done Team CFR. You surelly have a firm grip on that gold. Getting yourselves organised and mobile so early is a phenominal effort. When I get some time in the next few days I'll read your thread and try and figure out how you did it.
Mad Professor (Memphis Blues, over the line a mere 500 years after you guys)

 

[ShannonCT]

Great job guys! Your opening gamble really paid off. In hindsight, I wish our team had ignored archery and relied on a large number or warriors for defense and fog-busting. I bet you're glad you didn't get FUBARed .

ShannonCT (Memphis Blues, hoping for 4th place)

 

[Obormot]

It was not a gamble, but a carefully calculated risk.

 

[bshumbera]

bshumbera from FUBAR checkin' in. Congrats CFR... I plan on giving your thread a solid reading. In response to Balbes, I wanted to press on because it's not in my nature to quit. However, our captain fell off the face of the planet along with two other members. I felt like RF prevented me from taking an adequate leadership role. Others really felt a desire to quit so we did. We were frustrated beyond belief to be stuck on those islands. I noticed in other threads that Bismarck's borders touched Kyoto's in their games, for some reason that never happened in our game... we were stuck. I'll likely play the save on my own for another 50 turns to see if I could have made our small Catapult stack work, but I doubt it. The AI defenses were just too strong.

 

[akots]

Indeed, having only a single city, it is not possible to pop barbarians from the hut. They should have put it into manual and make it to the first page, font size 48, bold, and red. With two cities, it is possible.

 

[Obormot]

Indeed, having only a single city, it is not possible to pop barbarians from the hut. They should have put it into manual and make it to the first page, font size 48, bold, and red. With two cities, it is possible.

So the decision to pop the hut was actually correct in our case because we popped it before settling. I have to admit that we didn't think about huts before playing though (or maybe Dynamic did when he popped that hut?).

Anyone wants to try to replay FUBAR's game from their first save after loosing Osaka? I would have tried that, if only I had the time.

 

[Balbes]

So the decision to pop the hut was actually correct in our case because we popped it before settling. I have to admit that we didn't think about huts before playing though

I don't think I was expecting any huts at all in a SGOTM.

Anyone wants to try to replay FUBAR's game from their first save after loosing Osaka? I would have tried that, if only I had the time.

That save is definitely winnable, and I tend to lose interest in a game once it is clear. Though, it may be an interesting task to try to win in 400 turns (before 1770AD). Their current save is more challenging, because they haven't been developing correctly. Still I'd give it 80%+ odds.

 

[Balbes]

So the decision to pop the hut was actually correct in our case because we popped it before settling.

...which was a direct consequence of our strategic decision not to settle until, at least, Mysticism has been researched, i.e. turn 10. No other team waited so long to settle, with most doing it on T4 or T5.

 

[Gyathaar]

...which was a direct consequence of our strategic decision not to settle until, at least, Mysticism has been researched, i.e. turn 10. No other team waited so long to settle, with most doing it on T4 or T5.

XTeam waited longer

 

[bshumbera]

Should note that as in CFR's game, popping the hut was not a team decision, but made by the player who discovered it.

I agree that our save is still winnable, however in the spirit of SGOTM it should remain a team game. My team stopped posting to the boards weeks ago for no obvious reason. I think you're highly correct about poor management of Kyoto beyond the Osaka loss. Team members strayed too far from the goal of Astronomy. However, I think it's also important to note that for some reason, Bismarck's boundaries didn't expand in our game like they did in others. Had we met the mainland AI civs sooner, we could have come out better with trades. I still don't understand why we didn't meet Bismarck until almost 900 AD. Aside from the hut, this was the second most important thing that unbalanced the game for different teams.

 

[ShannonCT]

Should note that as in CFR's game, popping the hut was not a team decision, but made by the player who discovered it.

I agree that our save is still winnable, however in the spirit of SGOTM it should remain a team game. My team stopped posting to the boards weeks ago for no obvious reason. I think you're highly correct about poor management of Kyoto beyond the Osaka loss. Team members strayed too far from the goal of Astronomy. However, I think it's also important to note that for some reason, Bismarck's boundaries didn't expand in our game like they did in others. Had we met the mainland AI civs sooner, we could have come out better with trades. I still don't understand why we didn't meet Bismarck until almost 900 AD. Aside from the hut, this was the second most important thing that unbalanced the game for different teams.

I cant believe that it is actually possible to acheive conquest after losing Osaka like you did. My hats off to you for soldiering on. I might have been too disheartened.

The dice roll on the hut made a big difference for you guys obviously. I think CFR would have still won even if they hadn't gotten Mining from the hut, but it might be a tighter race. It was dumb luck that some teams popped the hut and didn't get barbs. I dont think many teams knew or discussed the 2 city-barb from hut rule before they popped it. Anyways, I hope all huts are removed from the starting area next SGOTM.

As far as the Bismark's borders, that was another strike against you. I wouldn't say it unbalanced the game though, as the fastest teching teams got optics fast enough to find all of the AIs with caravels before their galley could have. Anyway, this was not what I would call a flaw in the game design.