So, how'd your last game go?

[Birdmanthepuny]

Well in the game I will finish tonight, I already have a spaceship ready to launch, have enough votes for a backdoor domination, but am intent on punnishing the Koreans who, after an entire game of good relations, backstabbed me. Fortunately, riflemen and calvary are no match for my modern armor, mobile artillary and stealth bombers. I have never been in a position to delay a win to exact some revenge like this. Can you say overkill?

 

[Gypsy1220]

Standard Pangea...18 civs...Boudica of Rome playing on Immortal

I was going for a very fast rush victory with my Praets and basically said "screw you" to every request. Made no friends. I rushed and knocked off 5 civs before my economy started to bog down. Kept each of their capitals (which were all relatively close to my start location). But I got behind in tech and because I made no friends (heck even my buddist brothers/sisters were at least annoyed with me) I couldn't get anyone to trade anything with me. Then it happened, 5 civs DoW on me at the same time while my main force was fighting Justinian. They came from all sides with huge SOD's. I watched as I tried to rush defenders and pull my main force back, but it was too little too late. I couldn't get any of the ones I was at war with to make peace nor could I pull in any allies since I didn't have any. My cities fell behind waves of hordes from all over the world...

Moral of the story...even when you are going for a fast domination/conquest victory, you still need to make a couple of friends & Praets are only good until everyone else can build maces (knew that one, but was hoping to create more room before I turtled for a while to catch up on techs)

 

[Emperor Giulio]

Standard Pangea...18 civs...Boudica of Rome playing on Immortal

I was going for a very fast rush victory with my Praets and basically said "screw you" to every request. Made no friends. I rushed and knocked off 5 civs before my economy started to bog down. Kept each of their capitals (which were all relatively close to my start location). But I got behind in tech and because I made no friends (heck even my buddist brothers/sisters were at least annoyed with me) I couldn't get anyone to trade anything with me. Then it happened, 5 civs DoW on me at the same time while my main force was fighting Justinian. They came from all sides with huge SOD's. I watched as I tried to rush defenders and pull my main force back, but it was too little too late. I couldn't get any of the ones I was at war with to make peace nor could I pull in any allies since I didn't have any. My cities fell behind waves of hordes from all over the world...

Moral of the story...even when you are going for a fast domination/conquest victory, you still need to make a couple of friends & Praets are only good until everyone else can build maces (knew that one, but was hoping to create more room before I turtled for a while to catch up on techs)

Try using a leader with the organized trait; I think they can financially support a large empire better. Something I am going to try myself

 

[Sian]

played on with my India game ... and 1 turn before i'm ready to jump Babylon, russia feels bored and choses to attack me ... on the other site of my lands ... he manages to capture my two smallest cities before i get my load of Rifles there and i capture them painlessly ... after that i sail to their own lands and capture Novograd and kills a big bunch of their siege in the process (cannons and rifles vs Longbow mace and knights ... easy win) ... gave them a peace for 27 gpt because they got Gunpowder while i'm waiting on money for upgrading to Infantry ... and then i go at them once more ... Babylon should praise themselves lucky right now ...

a surpricing thing is that there was a overview on most advanced ... the second most advanced after me is the second smallest vassel state

 

[Frostite]

i took all the contenents and the last 1 i nuked it iwth 103 nukes =D, around 1823 is when i took over the world

 

[black3car]

Going nuts on chieftain! My last two games two other civs got mad at me (why...I don't have a clue) and declared war and it was a painful death. I have started another game on chieftain and am doing ok so far. I am up to my 6th game ever of CIV of any flavor. Things get clearer then something wild happens and I end up more confused than ever. I love the game though, and appreciate all of the information on this forum. I use "play now" and let the computer pick everything for me ( I like that challenge) and play on chieftain.

I see an earlier post where "Frostite" took over the world about 1823 and think....I've gotta be missing something!!! Will I ever get to that point. Hopefully I survive this game. I have happened to win one game on chieftain (Space race victory at about 2022...I think) Pretty ugly huh!

 

[Frostite]

Going nuts on chieftain! My last two games two other civs got mad at me (why...I don't have a clue) and declared war and it was a painful death. I have started another game on chieftain and am doing ok so far. I am up to my 6th game ever of CIV of any flavor. Things get clearer then something wild happens and I end up more confused than ever. I love the game though, and appreciate all of the information on this forum. I use "play now" and let the computer pick everything for me ( I like that challenge) and play on chieftain.

I see an earlier post where "Frostite" took over the world about 1823 and think....I've gotta be missing something!!! Will I ever get to that point. Hopefully I survive this game. I have happened to win one game on chieftain (Space race victory at about 2022...I think) Pretty ugly huh!

i did it at prince or noble iwth russia's peter , mostly luck (i think)

 

[Sian]

just lost a close race on a tiny panagea on noble as Peter in front of Babylon (OCC) ... it all went well till Brennus (Khmer) attacked me when i'd negected my defense a bit and i had to bribe Julius (Mali) to get him off me ... which went to good and he was vassalized over two blitzkriegs ... so Julius was explanding rapidly and threatening to eat up the tech lead i've cought by beelining and trading my lower techs ...

beelined to Rifling and declared war on them to take off the heat ... managed to blow Brennus as far back that he turned from Julius and requested that he could join me but my army had lost that much momentum (and force) that i had to sue peace at Julius ... and then he was off ... we was pretty much equal in tech though most of the industial age with him winning in on me towards the end ... tried to lock him down with Infentry but he managed to get his own infentry and beat me back before i could do serius damage to his softer parts ... and from there it pretty much went downhill ...

betted everything on that i could get a Space Victory off if i at the same time at regular intevals upgraded my army ... and boy it was a close race ... in the end it was about who first got the Engines (with me one step behind all the time because his massive espionage lead destroying my docking bay 3 or 4 times) ... when he got his first engine i knew that i had lost that race unless i in some way could get his mind off the space so i threw everything i had at him (and boosted Brennus so he could do the same), but he simply had a to strong army to get though more than two cities ... so while i was on the retreat back to babylon to defend for his horde of Tanks (i had modern armor but he simply had to much stuff and some pretty nasty gunships) he sent his Space Ship away ... he won July 2047 on a space victory

oh well ... interesting game nonetheless

 

[Dragon Reborn]

My latest noble game is going very well, I started on a medium sized island with the Germans and I manged to trap them in a small corner (they only had room for four cities). About 1400AD I sent a large group of knights over to take Berlin, Munich and Hamburg and leave Freddie with only Cologne as my vassal state.

I am now winning as I have a booming economy and I'm out teching everyone, Plus, as I'm a island it will be very hard for anyone to invade me. Now I just need to take out Shaka and Isabella.

I didn't win this game, Washington got too powerful and it was an utter stalemate.

I did just win my first Noble game however via space race with the Celts. It was a close run thing though as it was 2038 by the time I won and Hammurabi came very close to winning a diplomatic victory.

 

[Sian]

running a Huge maratron big/small as Ethiopia on noble ... even though this game is rather easymodish for me ... managed to axerush Charlemange and Cyrus before they got archers so i sat on slightly more than half of the continent with China, Korea and Native on the other half ... and have just thrown Sitting Bull off the Continent with Rifles in ~1450 ... have since round 1 AD been almost an era in front of everyone else (except Gendhi who is the second biggest and Korea who have the holy city for budism which is without question the biggest religion in the game)

 

[BalbanesBeoulve]

Did a peacemonger game. 9 civs on a standard sized map, custom continents with 3 continents. Elizabeth, Gandhi, Hatshepshut, Lincoln, Pericles, Frederick, Mansa, and Zara Yacob. I was Orange. Turns out my continent was actually an island with only me on it. Fortunately one of the other continents was reachable by coast, so it wasn't really an isolated start. Delayed settling my cities in order to get the oracle, got metal casting, and build the great light house and the colossus. Settler spammed, and the 2 extras overseas traderoutes and 1 pop whipped libraries kept me in the tech lead, though just barely. My infrastructure was awful, way too many jungles, little production. My whipping arm got tired, and my cities were tiny. Everyone loved each other, and any trade I made, every other civ would get the tech the next turn. I mean, they must have literally been just gifting techs, there's no way they could have gotten any worthwhile trades every damn time.

So I get liberalism, and I'm forced to start working on my land, since the great lighthouse and the collosus are going bye bye soon.

Everyone is still happy with each other, nobody ever got below cautious the entire game, even with different religions. There wasn't a single war the entire game. People start switching to free religion. I pull ahead in tech in the industrial era. Decide to go for a diplo victory, since everybody loves me. Start signing defensive pacts in order to solidify the friendly rating. Build the cristo redentor, which is great for this. I switch to everybody's religion and favorite civic long enough to get to friendly, sign the defensive pact, and then switch civics and religion again to befriend the next guy. Unfortunately I get lazy and don't build the UN. Figured i'd get someone else to build it and just be the second candidate, but Gandhi pulls ahead in pop. After that I get sid's sushi, and plant down as many cities i can fit into my island, buidling a bunch more farms. It takes FOREVER for the next UN candidate vote to come up, it finally does, i win, immediately choose the diplo victory, and win by a landslide. Poor lincoln only has Mansa vote for him. I get Gandhi, hatshepshut, frederick, elizabeth, Zara. Pericles abstains.

 

[djvandrake]

My last game was Ragnar and the Vikings. Noble difficulty with a large map and 9 other civs. I gained a real appreciation for the financial trait this game. Anywho I start on a medium sized island with only Isabella for a neighbor. She's founding religions left and right and I beeline to bronze working, only to discover the ONLY source of copper on the continent is right next to Madrid. Crap. So I whip a stack of 8 warriors and rush her. That's right, a warrior rush. She only had 2 warriors defending Madrid and I took it. Only one defending Barcelona, and then Izzy is my slave.

After that I build things like nuts and tech. Strike out on the waves and discover Qin Shi Haung of China sharing a continent with Catherine of Russia. Above them is another continent with Hannibal, Cyrus, and Brennus. I find the fourth continent above me and it has Monty and Zara Yaquob. I couldn't put up with Monty for long so I build an invasion force of Berserkers and finish him off in about 20 turns. Zara then becomes my Vassal.

I worked all game to spread my religion (that I captured from Izzy) of Hinduism to Catherine and make her my baby, then turn her against Qin. That kept Catherine busy long enough for me to go on a building spree and I end up with a CULTURAL VICTORY in 1906. Nidaros, Madrid, and my second city of Uppsala. I had 4-5 religions in each city (with the cathedral) and several wonders each. The game was marathon speed, and at the end I wound up with a culture of 225,000+ in Nidaros.

Those Vikings are a cultured lot!

 

[Dragon Reborn]

I am going for my first domination victory on Noble/Epic. I chose the second largest map size and only 10 civs as my computer has trouble handling the large number of units in the late game.

I started next to Peter and successfully rushed him. It took me a while to wipe him out but I managed to do so whilst still gaining a tech lead. Also on my continent was Toka with his two vassals, Sitting Bull and Khymer. I had helped him beat these two into submission and we were religious buddies so we were pretty friendly.

I spent my time building up an army to continue my warmongering and I ended up obliterating Ragnar (Cavalry v Longbowmen ) I then Dow'ed on his neighbour Ethiopia whilst Toka warred with Willem. The only country not at war was America.

I have taken three Ethiopian cities and inevitably Toka has declared war on me. It is 1930ish so I still have plenty of time to win and Tokas stack is large but outdated. His Knights will probably take at least one of my cities but once I start drafting I should destroy him.

 

[King Danny Boy]

I completed a game on Noble, contenents, everything standard. It was about my fifth game on this difficulty level and the first time I cracked the Dan Quayle basement. I was in a (distant) second to Carthage and Pascal II won a cultural victory with about 20 turns left. I finally learned how to fight a war. Next challenge, learn the espionage system and how to keep the cities happy and healthy.

 

[Dragon Reborn]

I have taken three Ethiopian cities and inevitably Toka has declared war on me. It is 1930ish so I still have plenty of time to win and Tokas stack is large but outdated. His Knights will probably take at least one of my cities but once I start drafting I should destroy him.

I played for five hours tonight and only advanced 25 years. My war with Toka is the bloodiest I have ever had, he sent 3 superstacks of Knights, samurai and various other medieval units against my Machine gun defended cities. Seeing 40 knights get mown down at my city gates was quite interesting. He took one of my cities and the Kymerians took back two that I had invaded previously but once his superstacks had been defeated I countered with Tanks, Infantry and bombers and now I have taken half his empire. Japan and Kymer look on the brink of defeat and I should get my first domination victory on this level.

 

[Rub'Rum]

I bloody hate Tokugawa, oh my God, he shows up in all my games and, invariably, I can't get along with him and he randomly declares war on me. Some other times he'll be the pesky ally in our religious group. For instance, I'm in a game now and my half of the world is all Jewish, me, Pacal, Ramses, Mehmed and Tokugawa, all Jewish... And then I try to go for "friendly" diplomacy with everyone but Tokugawa randomly declares war on his friends (including me) and ugh, now you get these "you declared war on our friend" from everyone if you help a friend against him, or the "refused to help us" from one of those friends who is getting mauled by Toku. I hate that bastard.

 

[djvandrake]

I bloody hate Tokugawa, oh my God, he shows up in all my games and, invariably, I can't get along with him and he randomly declares war on me. Some other times he'll be the pesky ally in our religious group. For instance, I'm in a game now and my half of the world is all Jewish, me, Pacal, Ramses, Mehmed and Tokugawa, all Jewish... And then I try to go for "friendly" diplomacy with everyone but Tokugawa randomly declares war on his friends (including me) and ugh, now you get these "you declared war on our friend" from everyone if you help a friend against him, or the "refused to help us" from one of those friends who is getting mauled by Toku. I hate that bastard.

I absolutely feel your pain. I've been in a war with Tokugawasan for the last 400 years. I'm kicking his butt, and he will not quit. What a pain in the a$$ he is.

 

[ohenry]

I got my butt kicked all over the map by a gazillion invading soldiers...I couldn't build an army nearly fast enough to combat Catherine's horde...then again, I suck at this game

 

[TBT]

My current game (I'm in future era already and building parts of spaceship) is the most succesful I've ever had, though I haven't captured even a single city.
I'm playing as Incas (financial + industrious = my favourite combination) on noble level, marathon speed, Hemispheres on a small map with 3 varied continents and some island, 12 civilizations, no tech brokering.
At the beginning I concentrated on gaining land and got attacked by the Mongolese. They lost the whole army attacking my city with 2 axeman inside, I was lucky I think. After that noone declared war because I always had one of the top strongest armies and kept good relations on my continent.
My population developed very fast, as well as culture and science. Now I have 41 million of citizens, while the second largest population consist of 4 (four) million. 10 civs have my religion (I have a shrine of course). I ruled the world with apostollic pallace and the UN is being build. I think it's partly because of my +19 food Sushi. Neighbour cities flip to my civ from time to time. I build almost all wonders. I have 5 corporations and wait for great people to found the rest.
What's important - my land is only the second largest. There are some big countries too on my planet, but not so dense populated.

 

[dubrown]

My last game, finished last night. Prince difficulty, normal speed, Small, pangea map with 4 AI civs. Me Wang Kon of the Koreans, opponents: Washington of America, Frederick of Germany, Darius of Persia and Justinian of Byzantium.

I went into the game with a clear goal, diplovictory as early as possible. I have to note that I haven't focused on a diplomatic victory ever before. I've always been the building type that went for spacerace or occassionally the warmonger. Being a builder by default, I've always threated CivIV and warlords the wrong way, ie building everything everywhere, not focused enough on economy and so on and thus having a hard time even on noble. but with BtS I've changed this, learned the tips and tricks from this site and is now trying to put the knowledge to good use.

As I said, as it was my first diploattempt on Princelevel (actually, second, I failed an OCC miserably on Prince with a diplo goal in the game before this one but I don't count that one...) I got a golden startposition so getting the first city up and running quickly was easy. Second thing I noticed I got all of the left half of the pangea continent to myself, all the AIs was on my right side, making it easy for me to block them of quickly and REX myself to cover all the land I wanted. As I quickly met everyone I realised that I got quite an "easy" opposition for a peaceful game.

Focus became a CE as most of my land was grassland with no rivers, exception being my starting city which had plenty of floodplains. Being Financial CE seemed a good choice and it turned out to be the right one. My second city went to a military center with very good production values, which in hindsight, I didn't really need as I only had one war so it was used mainly to produce wonders in masses. The only war I did have I initiated myself, justinian had managed to place a city right on my border and I figured it should be mine (as there was iron right beside it...) As Justinian was the only "High aggressive" civ around noone liked him much so declaring on him didn't give me any negative diplopoint. I got the city as I planned from him, my second goal was to vassalize him, though I had to give up on that one, If I had managed that, I may have had been able to pull of a religious win with the AP. But as it was now, only me and washington was of my confusian persuasion and thus, any such option wasn't viable. I failed any attempt to get any of the others to switch their beliefs.

At this point I was in a comfortable lead in size and power, I had a slight research lead of the the other 3 while Justinian was way behind in everything. Washington could almost match my size, but Frederic and Darius was fairly small. I guess I could have at this point switched to a warmonger and gained enough ground to get a domination win but that wasn't my goal.

The goal left was to get to the UN as quickly as possible. I made it there fairly late though, about 1900. With that accomplished I knew I would win. My opponent in the UN was Washington as well, but I had managed to get friendly relations with both Frederick and Darius so I had their votes, Justinian was mad at everyone so he abstained every vote. I failed the first two votes with just a few votes short of a diplowin. I refocused all my cities to growth and it worked, when next vote roled in I claimed the victory with 3 votes above needed.

Next game, not sure yet, I think either another attempt on an OCC or a domination game on an archipelago or iceage map.