*Spoiler* Game5-4-Babylon - Now Closed

[denyd]

Only one night left and it doesn’t look promising. It’s about 1800 AD and the dirty #$%^&*(! Carthage is slowly being destroyed. I was able to carry out my plan from the last post, getting TOE to get me to Electronics first. However, it was then that I discovered Carthage had the entire other branch researched and completed Atomic Theory the same turn I got TOE. I then got beat to Hoover by 6 turns (a very expensive factory). By the time I got my 80 tanks to the other continent, I saw Mech Infantry defending size 20+ cities. I got Rocketry as my bonus tech and traded that to India for Computers (of course Carthage had both plus fission). I managed to get SETI built while researching to Synthetic Fibers and then turned off science to afford the 100+ tank to modern armor upgrade. Carthage was nice enough to wait until I completed the upgrade and build another 80 MA, load them on transports and have them parked off Carthage’s eastern coast. I was building artillery (had 30, needed more) when Carthage struck. Killing a single cavalry switching cities. That attack triggered my Indian MPP and diverted a lot of Carthage attacks to closer targets. Just before the attack I checked Carthage’s capital and an ICBM was due in 2 turns. My western MA force razed on of Carthage’s oil cities on the first turn and my cavalry unhooked 2 of 3 uranium sources (India got the third next turn). I also leveled 5 other western cities including their capital, Carthage home of UN, Hoover, Oracle, Copernicus and Newton and Leptis Minor home of Sistine. My eastern MA army landed that turn. Unfortunately, some 30 MA’s died in the process. That meant Carthage got the next shot. I was on the receiving end of 7 ICBM’s. India got 5 and managed to launch 2 back to Carthage on their turn. My western forces leveled 3 more cities including the remaining oil source (India got their only iron source during their turn). Until this turn I was weak compared to Carthage. Now up to average (still average with India). My eastern troops got into the action leveling 4 cites, however my original MA force of 180 is now down to 115. At least there won’t be any quality replacements for Carthage joining the battles. I contacted Carthage on a ‘fake’ peace visit and noticed they lack oil, iron, uranium and rubber, so it’ll be only cavalry & riflemen being added the rest of the way. I’ve got about 50 workers cleaning up the messes the nukes did.

I’ve got about 4 hours left tonight and the plans are: Use the western force to take the final 4 western Carthage cities, then send them the central Carthage core of 6 cities. Keep using the eastern troops to attack the 7 remaining cities on that side of the island. So about 17 Carthage cities with about 100 MA troops left. I lost most of my 40+ cavalry and 25+ Azaps during the nuking, so I won’t be getting many reserves. Carthage rules the waves (10+ Battleship and 4+ Carriers), so my transports are now landlocked. If I can manage to get Carthage to about 3 cities, I’ll move what’s left of my attack force into India (about 15 cities there, but some got creamed by nukes) and try to use the ROP to raze 5-7 on the first strike. Then break the peace with Carthage to eliminate them, and free my transports to deliver a fresh set of 80 MA to finish off India. A great plan, if there’s enough time.

On another note, I’ll probably skip the current GOTM. Not enough time and play the recently released 5-6 France Commercial Domination game. That’ll give me 3 entries for the Medal Play Series.

Edit: Change in plan - I'll try to win tonite and tomorrow I'll start GOTM 23 and play to the end of the QSC to at least get a flavor for the game, then on the Medal Play 5-6.

See you in the spoilers.

 

[Email10]

Open 1.14f

Finished some time last week, but wasn't able to submit until early this morning, so I'm not sure my score counts.

Anyway. I tried building with rcp in the beginning. Made an early archer rush against Rome and he was out of the game before 1000bc. The Celts were up next. I took them out pretty easy. I took control of their iron first and then my bowmen stormed their cities. I decided to not think too much about wasting the GA, since I wanted this game to end quickly. Now I just needed to find those other bloody civs, which was not too easy it turned out.

I used a suicide galley to get in contact with Carthage and once I had the map I saw that I would need either the Lighthouse or Navigation to cross. Disaster! I had tons of horsemen (close to 50) waiting for upgrade as soon as I discovered Chivalry. About 15 galleys ready to transport my Knights and enough gold to upgrade around 30 horsemen. But I couldn't get over. The troubles didn't stop there. I missed the Lighthouse with 3 turns to Carthage. Now I was delayed a lot and had to wait for Navigation, which I got around 750 AD. I quickly upgraded my galleys and started the launch. Carthage was gone after about 150 years or so - got one GL which I used for army. India was tougher with all their Elephants. They were out around 1050 AD. Japan was spread out a lot so they also took some time to conquer so I didn't receive my victory until 1290 AD.

Some things I would do if I would replay:

Start with peaceful expansion and not attack Rome so quickly - to make science pace more fast. Don't attack Rome until all my land is filled. Then go for Lighthouse as soon as it is available. This was a must on this map to get an early victory and I missed it

Still, my earliest victory ever and also my first conquest ever!

Nice game cracker and company!

 

[cracker]

Originally posted by denyd
Edit: Change in plan - I'll try to win {game 5-4} tonite and tomorrow I'll start GOTM 23 and play to the end of the QSC to at least get a flavor for the game, then on the Medal Play 5-6.

See you in the spoilers.

Just wanted to provide you and everyone else with positive feedback here. This revised plan of yours reflects a very wise and informed set of decisions.

The most important phase of any game is the general conceptual planning and openning move sequences. By playing these moves up to the first spoiler cutoff or at least through the end of the QSC period, this allows you to be familiar enough with the game to actively benefit from all the great players around you and in many cases you will still be able to contribute your own experiences and observations to the community.

So, by at least playing the openings sequences of each game you have a chance to get the maximum benefit from the smallest time investment.

 

[denyd]

and I didn’t make it…at 11:30, I reviewed the map and saw an impossible task. I would be able to win using my announced plan. I just wouldn’t be able to do it in 30 minutes. I was able to use my western MA / artillery force to take the final 4 western Carthage cities and they were on their way to the central Carthage core of 6 cities. My eastern MA / artillery troops had 1 of the 7 cities on that side of the island left. But I was down to about 60 MA and most were damaged. I’ve completely repaired my original island after the Carthage nuking and am pumping out 3-4 MA per turn. I’ve got about 30 stockpiled with 12 transports waiting for peace with Carthage to invade India. I was going to use the ROP to raze 5-7 Indian cities on the first strike. Then break the peace with Carthage to eliminate them, and free my troops to finish off India.

I planted a spy and checked, India had built 8 of the 10 spaceship parts, so I only have 1-2 turns of war left with Carthage. Probably could take 3 of the last 6 cities, get peace and attack India, taking the capital first (Bye-Bye Spaceship). But, the clock has run out.

It’s time to trade my Bow for my horse and give the Arabs a try in GOTM 23. See you in the Spoiler 1 by the end of the week.

 

[civ_steve]

v1.21f

I must report a non-submittal , and acknowledge eventual defeat at this juncture . But it WAS fun and educational!!

When I entered the IA, I finally established an embassy with India, and they had Infantry patrolling the palace grounds!! Since Carthage and Japan were just mere shadows of their former selves, India was running away with the game, and I still had the Celts and a remnant of Rome to deal with.

So, I obtained MilTrad, upgraded about 30 Horsemen to Cavalry, and finished Phase III (the final Phase) of the Babylonian/Roman conflicts. After consolidation and healing, I began Phase I of the Celtic Wars; Brennus was kind enough to learn or obtain Steam Power during the war, so I got a nice Tech during the Peace Talks. Phase II finished around 1460; one of his former cities flipped, so I took it and his last two cities.

During the Celtic Wars, I finally got my research infrastructure up to snuff. I did a 40 turn research of Medicine, then did partial research (4-5 turns) with a final buy (roughly 1000 gold or so) (from India, the only seller) of Industrialization, Electricity and Scientific Method. While doing this, I heard that Gandhi had started on ToE. A city investigation showed that he needed 22 turns to complete it. I started a pre-build of Palace at my Forbidden Palace site, and prioritized its tiles for railroad improvements; I managed ToE in 20 turns, just edging him out. It didn't get me caught up, but at least I didn't fall further behind.

From ToE I got Replaceable Parts and Corporation, and researched Sanitation by myself. I figured that I couldn't possibly catch him in the Modern Era; and my only chance was to do mass Infantry invasion, supported by Cavalry and Artillery. After upgrading my defensive units to Infantry, I had about 40; I still had about 25 Cavalry, and almost 50 Cannon/Catapults available for upgrade. So I focused on getting as many cities as possible, able to do 2 or 3 turn builds of Infantry. Meanwhile, my coastal cities started rushing Galleons.

About 10 turns later, I noticed that Gandhi had gone Modern. I assembled my forces, and landed 30 Infantry, 20 Artillery, 1 Settler and 9 Cav on a hill on the 2nd continent. Carthage had asked for a MPP/ROP agreement; I happily agreed, and gave Hannible RepParts, and 2000 gold for upgrades. The Indian invasion was on!!

Well ... for a while, anyway. I had good success at the start, and leveled 5-6 cities. My Galleons would ferry back and forth, taking 20 to 40 additional troops each time. Any Indian ships I could reach from shore were quickly red-lined by Artillery, and I countered the few attempts he made to invade my continent. Problem was that my line of communication got too long on his continent. I'd landed on the closest spot, which was formerly Carthage cities; by the time I'd reached into his core area, I had about 5 towns I had to protect, which really spread my forces thin. I might have been more effective to land directly in core Indian territory, and be leveling his most productive cities. However, that was a longer ferry, and may not have worked either. Anyway, he did go communist, but still got MechInf about 6 turns into the invasion, and that is really hard to wade through.

I think an earlier war with Bowmen against Rome, before he really has Iron connected, would work out better than the later war that I performed. In my case, I'd have been better to have sold Literature (my one Tech that I was first to research) for gold; I'd probably have twice as many swordsmen on that first turn against Rome, rather than upgrade as the war went on. This long drag-out war really slowed me down, and set the stage to be far behind in the later stages of the game.

Well, I'm off to do a quick Gotm23; we'll see how far into I can get.

 

[Email10]

One thing that caused me problems in this game was the new naval rules. It was stated in the game announcement that it should be "out-of-the-box" but it wasn't, at least in my game (1.14f, open). Don't know if it was not changed for my version or if it is wrong in the game announcement. Well, it's been half a month since submission, so kinda late, but anyway =)