Sid without military

[kronic]

Hello everybody ,

normally I refuse posting in English but I've played a game lately that might be interesting for you. Actually some members of our beloved German Webring Forum forced me to open a thread here...
I did not score many points, but I gave Sid a fight on continents.

Anyway, some of us play a type of game we call "absoluter Pazifist" which means that we do not build any military unit, only settlers, workers and scouts.

After successful games on emperor and deity level I decided to give Sid a try. My first attempt failed. Hammurabi built a space ship while I just discovered Electronics...

For my next attempt I decided to change my rules a little bit: in order to be able to get the GL I allowed myself to build military units until the switch to Republic.

Settings:
1,22, Sid, no barbs, large map, continents, 60 % water, warm, wet, 5 billion years and max ai aggression and only 8 civs. Cultural Victory is not allowed and cultural linked starting location is off.
I did not use a premade map. Just took the first map that provided me a cow and a river.
Since agricultural and scientific are by far the best traits for that settings, I took the Sumerian civ for my little adventure. Sick of the ****ing colour they have I changed it to German blue.

As I noticed my rules don't fit with HoF-Rules, but hey...I don't know where to post that game either.

If you can read German just follow the link and read the original report.

Anyway here's the starting location.

 

[kronic]

As mentioned my first goal was to build the GL so I wanted to research Masonry, Alphabet, Writing and Literature.

I started with Masonry@50 turns and built immediately a granary in Ur so it could produce settlers pretty easy.

Around 2000bc I met Aztecs and Vikings. 2 contacts. I also discovered spices.

City 2 and 3, Sumer and Kish, got granaries as well - Sumer to grow fast and Kish to produce settlers. The Palace was started in Sumer as a prebuild for the GL.

I needed the whole 50 turns for Masonry. Fortunately I could buy Alphabet for 280 g and 8 gpt from the Aztecs. Another 50 turns for Writing...

Here's a picture from 1325bc - I have 10 cities, 6 Enkidu and 12 worker. No more military!

BTW: German word for Settler = Siedler, Worker = Bautrupp

 

[kronic]

I started trading spices for gems with Montezuma. He gave 80 g as well. Heinrich (Henry?) of Portugal appears...

Playing without military means pretty much that nothing interesting happens. Anyway 20 turns later I set research from 10 to 100 % to get writing some turns earlier (10-15 turns).

Ur and Kish built Settlers, Sumer the Palace and all the other cities produce worker. No buildings yet...

My next shot shows the year 590 bc - I have 19 cities and still 6 Enkidu.

German: Nahrungslager = granary

 

[kronic]

370bc was a great year - I discoverd Literature and i'm obviously the first. But still 8 turns to go...
I got contact with the Babylonians as well.

The Aztecs developed Literature in 270bc but they were too late! Sumer finished the GL in 230.

Let's see: I got all Ancient techs as well as Monotheism, Feudalism, Engineering, Invention, Gunpowder and Chivalry.

Meanwhile my expansion stopped. I finished with 22 citites, compared to 32 of the Aztecs, 23 of the Vikings, 20 of the Babylonians and 19 of the Portuguese.
But take a look at the culture graph.

German: Kultur = culture, Aztekenreich = Aztecs, Nordland = Vikings

 

[superslug]

First things first: WELCOME TO CFC! [dance] [dance]

Originally posted by kronic
Actually some members of our beloved German Webring Forum forced me to open a thread here...

If you wish to promote your site to our German speaking posters, that is permissible here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

Originally posted by kronic
Since agricultural and scientific are by far the best traits for that settings, I took the Sumerian civ for my little adventure. Sick of the ****ing colour they have I changed it to German blue.

Autocensors are enabled here. This type of language is frowned upon.

Originally posted by kronic
As I noticed my rules don't fit with HoF-Rules, but hey...I don't know where to post that game either.

Stories for nonHOF games go here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=47

 

[kronic]

Thanks! I already knew that some words are not allowed, I censored myself (it was not the auto-censorship). And then it is not exactly a story (I couldn't write a story in English hehe), just a report about a won Sid-continent-no-military-game. But of course, the mods can do their job.

---

It took some turns to switch to Republic (don't know the exact number), but I could finally dismiss my military.

After I rushed a courthouse in Susa the city started to build the FP (90bc).

To found a friendship with Monti of the Aztecs I made a ROP with him (70bc).
Unfortunately the people of Ashan believed in the superiority of the Aztecian culture.

Ragnar of the Vikings gave silk for 340 g. (70ad)

90ad - Aztecs and Portugues discovered Education and Chemistry. I forced the research of Printing Press (90%, 14 turns) but in 110ad they already got the tech. The Hitties arrived and I could buy the contacts to Iroquois (who didn't even have engineering...) and Zulus! I had to pay 5gpt and 294g.

I finally developed PP in 260ad but I my next tech would have taken between 20 and 30 turns. So I decided to steal it. I had enough many (around 2800g) to give it a try...and succeeded in the capital of the Hitties! I chose "Metallverarbeitung" (don't know the English name. That is the tech that allows Military Traditions...).
I could import hides for another 420g.
Iroquois gave Astronomy for Chemie+550g and I got my money back for selling him "Metallverarbeitung".

Meanwhile my cities grew. I had originally 50 worker. 20 of them became now part of their home cities again. It was 430ad - and i had some size 12 cities. Not that fascinating but very good for a non-military-game.

 

[kronic]

Susa finished the FP in 480. The People of Agade are in favor of the Aztecian culture too.

Banking was researched in 500. Deal with Babylon: Horses for 191g. Deal with Hitties: Horses for lux + 4g +4 gpt.

570 ad - researching of Physics finished.
610 ad - Hiawatha leaves our world forever.
630 ad - Magnetism known in Ur.
690 ad - ToG.
I got Steam Power as bonus tech. Babylon gave Medicine for Steam, 24g and 16gpt.

Techleader but no coal for me.
Portugal paid 355gpt for both techs, Hitties 89gpt and world map.

 

[kronic]

700 - Hammurabi followed Hiawatha.

720 - Palace prebuild started in Sumer
I could know import Iron and Coal - had to pay 120 gpt.


760 - AI started building Women's Suffrage. They also have Electricity. My research speeds up from 9 to 4 turns.

800 - Electricity researched - i traded it to the Hitties. They gave Industrialization for Electricity and 600g. 11 turns for the ToE-tech.

850 - Zulu and Aztecs far ahead: ToE-Tech, The Corporation and Replacable Parts.
Portugal traded Sanitation for Industrialization.

860 - Zulu started ToE.

890 - Hitties completed Universal Suffrage.
New RoP with Aztecs (-250g).

900/920 Luxury-Deals with Hitties and Aztecs revived. I paid for Coal and Iron 2465g and 40gpt now.

930 - celebration year.

German: Abstammungslehre = ToE

 

[kronic]

I chose Atomic Theory and Electronics. Unfortunately Zulu and Aztecs already have Atomic Theory. But the Hitties gave Replaceable Parts+7g+map.
Since I started another prebuild some turns ago I decided to sell Electronics. Aztecs gave The Corporation + 12300g and Zulu Refining (had to pay him 1700g).

Aztecs sold Steel for oil, rubber and 6000g.

Hoover took 11 turns...
Researching combustion in 16 turns (100 %).

940 - Aztecs and Zulu started Hoover.

980 - Combustion known by them.

1000 - The Vikings died...

1040 - Hoover is mine. GA-time!

1050 - Combustion researched. Buying Aeronatics (right name?) for 2600 g and 520 gpt from Aztecs. I was able to sell the tech to the Hitties: they gave 22g and 46gpt.

1080 - RoP with Aztecs ended, no renewal (no money).

1100 - new Luxury-Deal with Hitties.
He sold Mass Production for 3030g, 265gpt and map.

Sumer started with Battlefield Medicine (102 shields netto).

1120 - Aztecs got their own spices - and I lost 2 luxuries. Zulu started to deliver 2 other lux for spices.

1130 - Coal and Iron had been delivered for 20 turns but I don't need them anymore.
Montezuma had a bad mood in that days so I signed a new RoP. that cost me 320 g.
Now he paid for oil 9452g + 1 luxury.
Portugal bought The Corporation for 91g and 32gpt. Shaka finished research of Motorized Transportation!

1140 - Paid 7900g for MT to the Hitties.

My bonus tech is Computers...(don't know the techname in the English version).

I started to research Fission in 17 turns (100%; -817gpt). 17 turns?!

Shaka paid for Computers 2912g and 126gpt, Hitties 11600g and 53gpt. Monti was bankrupt...

Production in Sumer switched from Battlefield Medicine to SETI.

1160 - SETI-production started by Shaka.

1170 - Computers sold to Monti for 302g, 15gpt, 2 luxuries, coal, iron and map.
I started bribing him (20gpt).

1180 - new RoP with Shaka. Had to pay 80g + map.

1220 - SETI built in Sumer.

1240 - GA ended. Kish started to build Battlefield Medicine.

1250 - Shaka started to build UN.

1265 - Nuclear Fission researched. 8 turns...researching Rocketry@50 turns.

1275 - new luxury-deal with Hitties (for horses and 450gpt).
Shaka researched Ecology.

1280 - Monti bribed with another 30gpt.

1290 - Shaka gave 2 luxuries for spices again. He completed the Manhattan Project. Aztecs declared war on Zulu (once again).

1295 - New RoP with Monti, paid 300g.

1300 - Oil again bought by Monti for luxury + 5507g.
I bribed the votes: gave Portugal nearly all techs from the Industrial Age so that he entered the Modern Times + RoP + 50gpt + rubber.
The Hitties got for Rocketry Nuclear Fission and 7500g, then RoP, uranium and rubber.

1305 - UN built in Kishes. Gilgamesh got 3 votes out of 5 and wins. Around 8600 points for me.


I can provide some saves (unfortunately not 10ad) if you wish and of course more screenshots. I was scared that the pics are shown in the posts directly. And that looks not that good since the shots are a bit large (1280x1024).

 

[Yndy]

Very nice work there. What was the culture like when you finished the game?

 

[kronic]

I had 26,116 culture points in 1300. I uploaded the graph here.

Since Aztecs and Zulu got that strong there, I could have turned cultural victory on but the problem is in general that you can not control the Sid-AI's ability to produce culture if you play without military. It is much likely that the civ next to your borders will rule your continents because it can grab more space und therefore found more cities than the other AI-civs due to the slower expansion of human players. In that game the Aztecs got 10 cities more than the other civs.
And if only one or two civs on the other continent survive a cultural victory is fairly possible but you have IMHO no chance to avoid that without war. That's why I turned off the cultural victory. The Culture thing is more a gamble than to leave your cities alone next to a civ with hundreds of units.

 

[Darkness]

Great win Kronic!
And a great tale too...

 

[Offa]

Superb. How do you avoid sneak attacks?

 

[kronic]

Thank you.

Unfortunately I can't name any rules that absolutely avoid sneak attacks. However these are my assumptions how to minimize the risk:

- maximum AI aggression lets the AI stay always at war against eachother so they have always other enemies to deal with,
- it is deadly to refuse the AI's demands: always give map, money or tech,
- early RoPs with your neighbours (it is too late if the AI is already positioning massive troops at your border ---> sneak attack is very likely even with a new RoP),
- trade as much as you can ---> especially ressources not only luxuries (esp. iron and horses)
- bribe the ai with gpt - note that it isn't advantegous to pay more for a tech than necessary ---> bribe the ai with an extra donation (new trade)

Maybe the possibility of an AI-attack is lower if they can not recognize a military threat. However I had some pacifism-games lately (2x emperor, 2x deity, 2x sid) and i was attacked in just one out of 6 games. Since that game was on emperor i could still win it.