cracker
Gil Favor's Sidekick
Great game Snaga and welcome to the visible side of the spectrum. 
*Spoiler2* - Gotm19-Ottomans - Full Map - Mag+Grav
- Thread starter cracker
- Start date
Gen. Maximus
Warlord
Fully agree with Cracker, it's a great game of yours, expect you to be within top-10 
.
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Ribannah
Fighter Druid
A pity! It sure looks like we have a new top contender in our midst.
Looks like we could learn a thing or two from you as well! Were they all upgrades or did you build some Sipahi, too?
Congatulations, that gives you a high GOTM score!
The target dates don't influence the score that much anymore with the new Jason formula, so getting domination instead of the intended conquest is not a big deal.
I'm surprised more players didn't go crazy with the Sipahi. With twice the attack of the best defender available they make for an overwelming blitzkrieg force, especially on a small map.
I made sure to nurse my horsemen/knights to have as many available for upgrade as possible. I upgraded even elite units, as the extra movement and attack is more valuable than the leader chance. Most of them ended up elite anyway, and the leaders I got were too late to make much difference to the result
The Sipahi upgrades alone provided enough force to steamroller Rome. Sipahi builds during GA were then mostly shipped direct to the main continent. I also rush bought a fair number of Sipahi, first in home territory and later in conquered Spanish towns, using my 100% cash income.
I didn't think my game was particularly strong, Sir Pleb showed what is possible with more accurate play. I just wanted a solid win to get started on the GOTM roster.
Darkness
Shadow creature
Well, you got that, that's for sure...
DaviddesJ
Deity
My timeline (didn't post in spoiler #1, so that's here too):
3950BC: Build Sogut west of start, near wheat. (SW would have been better, oh well.) Research Iron Working at min (40 turns).
3400BC: Contact with Celts. Trade Bronze Working and Ceremonial Burial for Masonry and Warrior Code.
2900BC: Build Iznik to NW, near Cattle and Spices.
2470BC: Build Uskudar to NE, near Cattle and Silks.
1725BC: Build Izmit, Aydin, Antalya along southern border with Celts. Bring iron, dyes inside borders.
1450BC: Build Bursa to far NW, near Horses and Fish.
1400BC: Build Edirne to far SW, near Gems.
1000BC: At 8 cities, 26 pop, 1 barracks, 5 libraries, 4 workers, 7 warriors, 4 swordsmen.
900BC: Build Istanbul to NE near Fish and Silks.
850BC: Finish researching Monarchy. Revolution: 6 turns anarchy.
710BC: Enter Monarchy.
450BC: Massive barbarians (4 stacks of 8+ horsemen). Spending lots of cash upgrading warriors to swordsmen, rushing some units.
290BC: Barbarians defeated with no significant losses. War on Celts. I have 13 swordsmen, 4 horsemen.
250BC: My elite swordsman attacks spearman, I lose with no hits scored! Bring up more troops!
210BC: Capture Entremont (Celt capital). Spain appears, made some money and luxuries by trading contacts.
150BC: Decided I need knights to attack Carthage and seize the Great Library. Won't mind giving up techs if I do get the GL. So traded Engineering to Spain for Feudalism plus 39 gold plus 10 gpt. Traded Engineering to Rome for 35 gold plus 11 gpt. Traded Engineering to Carthage for 34 gold plus Republic. Start researching Chivalry at 100% (6 turns).
50BC: Accepted peace with Celts, leaving them with one city. I'm at 17 cities, 84 pop.
30BC: Researched Chivalry, upgraded many horsemen.
10AD: War with Carthage. Warrior the Hut pillages his iron supply.
90AD: Capture Carthage, with Great Library. Shut down research, giving away techs to speed everyone else's research.
190AD: Leader at last! Rush Forbidden Palace in Carthage. Relocating some cities around Carthage, for efficient production.
210AD: Another leader! Rush Sun Tzu in Carthage.
260AD: Capture last Carthaginian city on this continent (but they have one city on island east of Rome). Peace with Carthage. Revolution: 5 turns anarchy.
280AD: Gained Gunpowder via Great Library. Traded Saltpeter to Rome for 12 gpt.
300AD: Peace treaty with Celts expired. War on Celts. Celts destroyed.
310AD: Enter Republic. Adding Celt and Cartaginian slaves to my cities.
350AD: Gained Theology via Great Library. Traded Theology to Spain for 80 gold plus 17 gpt. My net income is 324 gpt. Planning world conquest.
410AD: Gained Chemistry via Great Library. Traded Chemistry to Egypt for 98 gold.
440AD: Rome attacked us!z They have galleass, what a pain. I stupidly let them raze a small city (not an issue for production, but I will suffer with war weariness later). I'm building some catapults to bombard their ships, since frigates and ironclads are still far off. Fortunately, the galleass is slow and my own transports can just run around them.
460AD: Gained Metallurgy via Great Library.
470AD: Spain beat me to Leonardo's Workshop, sigh.
480AD: Oops, lost 350 shields by not switching my wonder city's production.
490AD: Gained Education and Military Tradition via Great Library. Researching Astronomy at 60% (4 turns). Upgrade some knights to sipahi, land on Roman territory.
510AD: Sipahi victory: Golden Age!
520AD: Spain allies with Rome against me, declares war! Roman counterattacks are relatively ineffective. Pay 3 gpt to Rome for peace. Trade Military Tradition and 1 gpt to India for alliance against Spain. Trade Saltpeter and Dyes to Rome for Ivory, 13 gpt, and alliance against Spain. Still have ROPs with India, China, Egypt: attacking Spain from all directions. Withdraw troops from Roman lands.
530AD: Learn Astronomy. Trade Astronomy to Rome for 113 gold plus 76 gpt. Researching Navigation at 50% (4 turns). Sogut builds Copernicus. Large cities are building universities, despite war.
560AD: Troops sent through China capture Chittagong from Spain (former Indian city). Land a large force in India near Spain. India and Spain are fighting hard, while I muster my forces.
570AD: Learn Navigation. Forgot I can only build Magellan in coastal cities! Prebuild in Iznik is useless. Trade Navigation to Rome for 44 gold plus 52 gpt. Trade Navigation to India for 60 gold plus 24 gpt. Trade Chemistry, Incense, Silks to China for Furs. Trade Navigation, Incense, Silks, Dyes to Egypt for Wines. Trade Incense, Silks, Spices to India for 26 gpt. Set entertainment to 10%, this will trigger WLTKD in most of my large cities. Researching Physics at 40% (4 turns). Net income now 400 gpt.
580AD: Renewed ROP with India, but not China or Egypt. Massed attack by 12 sipahi takes Salamanca, barracks captured. 2 sipahi take Barcelona (Indians killed most of the defenders). India is gracious.
590AD: Capture Seville (Lighthouse, Colossus).
600AD: Trade Dyes to India for 11 gpt.
610AD: Learn Physics. Researching Theory of Gravity (4 turns), to delay obsoleting Lighthouse. India captures Santiago. I take Valencia, Madrid (Pyramids, Hanging Gardens).
620AD: Capture Murcia, Toledo. Spain destroyed. This ends my "alliance against Spain" deal with Rome. I give him Dyes and 39 gpt (not Saltpeter!) for new deal for Ivory. Egypt gives me Banking for 200 gpt. War on Egypt. India gives alliance against Egypt for 7 gpt. Rome gives alliance against Egypt for 19 gpt. Capture Abydos.
630AD: Capture Pi-Ramesses. I've cut off Egypt's saltpeter, but it seems that someone else is giving it to them. Trade Banking to China for Printing Press.
640AD: Egyptian counterattack kills 3 sipahi. I capture Heliopolis, Memphis.
650AD: Learn Theory of Gravity. Researching Magnetism at 40% (4 turns). Capture El-Amarna (with small force attacking Egypt from the east).
660AD: Indians capture Elephantine. Egyptians finish JS Bach's Cathedral in Thebes! I capture Thebes, Hieraconpolis, Giza, Byblos. War on China. India joins alliance against China for 5 gpt. Capture Nanking. Entertainment to 20%, to compensate for loss of Furs.
670AD: Capture Alexandria. Generate leader! Rush Magellan in Alexandria. Capture Asyut. Egypt destroyed. Capture Tatung, Shanghai. Flush with gold, buy some sipahi for 400 each.
680AD: Capture Beijing, Hangchow.
690AD: Learn Magnetism. Enter Industrial Age.
I'm well placed at this point to finish off China shortly, India next, and then turn to Rome. I think I could win by conquest around 800AD. But I'm thinking that I may go ahead and milk for a high score instead, since I've never done that. After conquering the whole world, I should be able to cherry-pick the best territory.
I've been playing very slowly and optimizing production and military moves, I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish if I play the full game out.
My game sounds similar to Snaga's, but several turns behind him. If I do milk the position, will be interesting to see how our scores compare.
3950BC: Build Sogut west of start, near wheat. (SW would have been better, oh well.) Research Iron Working at min (40 turns).
3400BC: Contact with Celts. Trade Bronze Working and Ceremonial Burial for Masonry and Warrior Code.
2900BC: Build Iznik to NW, near Cattle and Spices.
2470BC: Build Uskudar to NE, near Cattle and Silks.
1725BC: Build Izmit, Aydin, Antalya along southern border with Celts. Bring iron, dyes inside borders.
1450BC: Build Bursa to far NW, near Horses and Fish.
1400BC: Build Edirne to far SW, near Gems.
1000BC: At 8 cities, 26 pop, 1 barracks, 5 libraries, 4 workers, 7 warriors, 4 swordsmen.
900BC: Build Istanbul to NE near Fish and Silks.
850BC: Finish researching Monarchy. Revolution: 6 turns anarchy.
710BC: Enter Monarchy.
450BC: Massive barbarians (4 stacks of 8+ horsemen). Spending lots of cash upgrading warriors to swordsmen, rushing some units.
290BC: Barbarians defeated with no significant losses. War on Celts. I have 13 swordsmen, 4 horsemen.
250BC: My elite swordsman attacks spearman, I lose with no hits scored! Bring up more troops!
210BC: Capture Entremont (Celt capital). Spain appears, made some money and luxuries by trading contacts.
150BC: Decided I need knights to attack Carthage and seize the Great Library. Won't mind giving up techs if I do get the GL. So traded Engineering to Spain for Feudalism plus 39 gold plus 10 gpt. Traded Engineering to Rome for 35 gold plus 11 gpt. Traded Engineering to Carthage for 34 gold plus Republic. Start researching Chivalry at 100% (6 turns).
50BC: Accepted peace with Celts, leaving them with one city. I'm at 17 cities, 84 pop.
30BC: Researched Chivalry, upgraded many horsemen.
10AD: War with Carthage. Warrior the Hut pillages his iron supply.
90AD: Capture Carthage, with Great Library. Shut down research, giving away techs to speed everyone else's research.
190AD: Leader at last! Rush Forbidden Palace in Carthage. Relocating some cities around Carthage, for efficient production.
210AD: Another leader! Rush Sun Tzu in Carthage.
260AD: Capture last Carthaginian city on this continent (but they have one city on island east of Rome). Peace with Carthage. Revolution: 5 turns anarchy.
280AD: Gained Gunpowder via Great Library. Traded Saltpeter to Rome for 12 gpt.
300AD: Peace treaty with Celts expired. War on Celts. Celts destroyed.
310AD: Enter Republic. Adding Celt and Cartaginian slaves to my cities.
350AD: Gained Theology via Great Library. Traded Theology to Spain for 80 gold plus 17 gpt. My net income is 324 gpt. Planning world conquest.
410AD: Gained Chemistry via Great Library. Traded Chemistry to Egypt for 98 gold.
440AD: Rome attacked us!z They have galleass, what a pain. I stupidly let them raze a small city (not an issue for production, but I will suffer with war weariness later). I'm building some catapults to bombard their ships, since frigates and ironclads are still far off. Fortunately, the galleass is slow and my own transports can just run around them.
460AD: Gained Metallurgy via Great Library.
470AD: Spain beat me to Leonardo's Workshop, sigh.
480AD: Oops, lost 350 shields by not switching my wonder city's production.
490AD: Gained Education and Military Tradition via Great Library. Researching Astronomy at 60% (4 turns). Upgrade some knights to sipahi, land on Roman territory.
510AD: Sipahi victory: Golden Age!
520AD: Spain allies with Rome against me, declares war! Roman counterattacks are relatively ineffective. Pay 3 gpt to Rome for peace. Trade Military Tradition and 1 gpt to India for alliance against Spain. Trade Saltpeter and Dyes to Rome for Ivory, 13 gpt, and alliance against Spain. Still have ROPs with India, China, Egypt: attacking Spain from all directions. Withdraw troops from Roman lands.
530AD: Learn Astronomy. Trade Astronomy to Rome for 113 gold plus 76 gpt. Researching Navigation at 50% (4 turns). Sogut builds Copernicus. Large cities are building universities, despite war.
560AD: Troops sent through China capture Chittagong from Spain (former Indian city). Land a large force in India near Spain. India and Spain are fighting hard, while I muster my forces.
570AD: Learn Navigation. Forgot I can only build Magellan in coastal cities! Prebuild in Iznik is useless. Trade Navigation to Rome for 44 gold plus 52 gpt. Trade Navigation to India for 60 gold plus 24 gpt. Trade Chemistry, Incense, Silks to China for Furs. Trade Navigation, Incense, Silks, Dyes to Egypt for Wines. Trade Incense, Silks, Spices to India for 26 gpt. Set entertainment to 10%, this will trigger WLTKD in most of my large cities. Researching Physics at 40% (4 turns). Net income now 400 gpt.
580AD: Renewed ROP with India, but not China or Egypt. Massed attack by 12 sipahi takes Salamanca, barracks captured. 2 sipahi take Barcelona (Indians killed most of the defenders). India is gracious.
590AD: Capture Seville (Lighthouse, Colossus).
600AD: Trade Dyes to India for 11 gpt.
610AD: Learn Physics. Researching Theory of Gravity (4 turns), to delay obsoleting Lighthouse. India captures Santiago. I take Valencia, Madrid (Pyramids, Hanging Gardens).
620AD: Capture Murcia, Toledo. Spain destroyed. This ends my "alliance against Spain" deal with Rome. I give him Dyes and 39 gpt (not Saltpeter!) for new deal for Ivory. Egypt gives me Banking for 200 gpt. War on Egypt. India gives alliance against Egypt for 7 gpt. Rome gives alliance against Egypt for 19 gpt. Capture Abydos.
630AD: Capture Pi-Ramesses. I've cut off Egypt's saltpeter, but it seems that someone else is giving it to them. Trade Banking to China for Printing Press.
640AD: Egyptian counterattack kills 3 sipahi. I capture Heliopolis, Memphis.
650AD: Learn Theory of Gravity. Researching Magnetism at 40% (4 turns). Capture El-Amarna (with small force attacking Egypt from the east).
660AD: Indians capture Elephantine. Egyptians finish JS Bach's Cathedral in Thebes! I capture Thebes, Hieraconpolis, Giza, Byblos. War on China. India joins alliance against China for 5 gpt. Capture Nanking. Entertainment to 20%, to compensate for loss of Furs.
670AD: Capture Alexandria. Generate leader! Rush Magellan in Alexandria. Capture Asyut. Egypt destroyed. Capture Tatung, Shanghai. Flush with gold, buy some sipahi for 400 each.
680AD: Capture Beijing, Hangchow.
690AD: Learn Magnetism. Enter Industrial Age.
I'm well placed at this point to finish off China shortly, India next, and then turn to Rome. I think I could win by conquest around 800AD. But I'm thinking that I may go ahead and milk for a high score instead, since I've never done that. After conquering the whole world, I should be able to cherry-pick the best territory.
I've been playing very slowly and optimizing production and military moves, I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish if I play the full game out.
My game sounds similar to Snaga's, but several turns behind him. If I do milk the position, will be interesting to see how our scores compare.
jeffelammar
Space for rent
Ancient Timeline
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?postid=1012718#post1012718
Most of this age was devoted to killing Carthage and then Doing a blitz through the rest of the Techs.
I was going for Domination, so I should probably have done some things different to facilitate that goal.
430 BC - Discover Currency - Ancient Era Ends
- Got Engineering for Free
- Start Feudalism (Knights to attack Carthage and eventually upgrade to Siphi)
410 BC - Found Ankara
370 BC - Found Salonika
- India discovers Currency - Barbarian Huts expand
350 BC - *** I build the Hanging Gardens in Iznik
310 BC - War with Celts again - Capture a Settler
190 BC - Capture Richborough
- The Celts are destroyed
- *** Spain Builds Great Lighthouse in Seville
- Rome calls - Demands Engineering - I refuse and Caesar declares war.
- I negotiate to get Spain, Egypt and Carthage on my side
170 BC - *** I build Great Wall in Bursa
130 BC - *** Spain builds Pyramids in Madrid
150 AF - Discover Invention - Start Gunpowder (Am heading for Military Trad.)
270 AD - *** I build Sun Tsu's Art of War in Sogut
290 AD - *** Egypt builds Leonardo's Workshop in Thebes
460 AD - Declare War on Carthage
- Capture Nora (Carthage)
590 AD - Capture Oea (Carthage)
600 AD - *** I build Sistine Chapel in Iznik
630 AD - *** India builds JS Bach's in Bombay
630 AD - *** Carthage builds Copernicus's Observatory in Hippo
660 AD - Capture Sabratha (Carthage)
- ** Siphi victory causes Start of Golden Age **
660 AD Till 780 AD - My Siphi cut through Carthage
670 AD - (from later replay) China gets a leader. As far as I can tell this is the only leader by anyone other than me. (At least I didn't see any others in the replay)
680 AD - Attacking a Carthaginian City, I get my first leader
- I will soon use him for Forbiddin Palace in Carthage.
740 AD - *** Forbidden Palace in Carthage.
780 AD - Capture Last Carthaginian City.
- At this point I spend a long time debating if I should go after India or Rome.
- In the end I go after India because it leaves me more options for attacking others. Also, I am going for Domination. I should be able to get it long before Rome could hit any of the LateIndustrial techs that would make Caesar dangerous.
- Start Revolution to Democracy - Lucky 2 turns.
840 AD - Discover Theory of Gravity, Start on Magnetism. Industry here I come
- *** Build Newton's in Iznik (Had a Palace based Prebuild)
- (I guess my notes are off by a year, but point is same)
850 AD - Discover Magnetism, Industrial Age starts.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?postid=1012718#post1012718
Most of this age was devoted to killing Carthage and then Doing a blitz through the rest of the Techs.
I was going for Domination, so I should probably have done some things different to facilitate that goal.
430 BC - Discover Currency - Ancient Era Ends
- Got Engineering for Free
- Start Feudalism (Knights to attack Carthage and eventually upgrade to Siphi)
410 BC - Found Ankara
370 BC - Found Salonika
- India discovers Currency - Barbarian Huts expand
350 BC - *** I build the Hanging Gardens in Iznik
310 BC - War with Celts again - Capture a Settler
190 BC - Capture Richborough
- The Celts are destroyed
- *** Spain Builds Great Lighthouse in Seville
- Rome calls - Demands Engineering - I refuse and Caesar declares war.
- I negotiate to get Spain, Egypt and Carthage on my side
170 BC - *** I build Great Wall in Bursa
130 BC - *** Spain builds Pyramids in Madrid
150 AF - Discover Invention - Start Gunpowder (Am heading for Military Trad.)
270 AD - *** I build Sun Tsu's Art of War in Sogut
290 AD - *** Egypt builds Leonardo's Workshop in Thebes
460 AD - Declare War on Carthage
- Capture Nora (Carthage)
590 AD - Capture Oea (Carthage)
600 AD - *** I build Sistine Chapel in Iznik
630 AD - *** India builds JS Bach's in Bombay
630 AD - *** Carthage builds Copernicus's Observatory in Hippo
660 AD - Capture Sabratha (Carthage)
- ** Siphi victory causes Start of Golden Age **
660 AD Till 780 AD - My Siphi cut through Carthage
670 AD - (from later replay) China gets a leader. As far as I can tell this is the only leader by anyone other than me. (At least I didn't see any others in the replay)
680 AD - Attacking a Carthaginian City, I get my first leader
- I will soon use him for Forbiddin Palace in Carthage.
740 AD - *** Forbidden Palace in Carthage.
780 AD - Capture Last Carthaginian City.
- At this point I spend a long time debating if I should go after India or Rome.
- In the end I go after India because it leaves me more options for attacking others. Also, I am going for Domination. I should be able to get it long before Rome could hit any of the LateIndustrial techs that would make Caesar dangerous.
- Start Revolution to Democracy - Lucky 2 turns.
840 AD - Discover Theory of Gravity, Start on Magnetism. Industry here I come
- *** Build Newton's in Iznik (Had a Palace based Prebuild)
- (I guess my notes are off by a year, but point is same)
850 AD - Discover Magnetism, Industrial Age starts.
Made it this far, at least!!
I ended my first spoiler in 490 BC. An inadvertant suicide galley (I mis-moved, and decided to head out since I couldn't make it back to Coast; on turn 2 I met ...) made it to the Chinese, and a massive round of Trading ensued leaving me in the Middle Ages with a Free engineering Tech (Perfect choice IMO).
I finished off the Celts in 410 BC with Swordsmen, completed my FP in Aydin (next to Sogut) in the mid-300's BC, became Republic about that same time (7 turns), and did a Capital Flip to Richborough, located at the Southern Tip of the large inland Lake (Thanks to DaveMcW's posts).
I was just about ready to attack Carthage after the Capital move. In 70 BC I traded around all the communications between the continents because someone, somewhere was about to finish the GLighthouse (I could just feel it about to happen). I started the war with Carthage with Azap Warriors in 70 AD; ouch! I took Carthage (with the Pyramids, too), but lost 5 Azaps to 3 NumMercs. So I defended until I got Chivalry, upgraded some Horses to Knights, and started the Offensive again. A little better results, about 20-30% losses, but still a bit high. After taking about 5 cities we declare peace and I continue researching to MilTrad.
Which I get around 530 AD; 20 turns peace expires in 580 AD, and war is resumed. The Sipahi are much more successful. (But most of you know that already.) By 630 AD Carthage is down to 1 city on the island east of Rome.
I'd fomented a 3 way alliance (India/Spain/China vs Egypt), and India finishes off Egypt totally. Next I've set Spain and China against India. I'd not realized how resource poor Spain was: they're paying me a lot for Iron and Horses. In retrospect, I should have let India pretty much do in China and Spain, maybe separately, so that by giving them a tundra city I could probably count on them for UN votes if it comes to that. OTOH, I'm not sure I'd want India to have all the Wonders that Spain has built.
I've spent most of my GA saving up money for the Rome invasion, and building lots of Pikemen for upgrades to Muskets, (Disconnected Saltpeter to do that), while maintaining 4 turn research. I've just reached the Industrial Age in late 700's, only missing Economics from the MA, while the rest are still working on Theory of Gravity. At one point I had just over 10,000 gold, with up to +600 gpt at times. I don't have Leonardo's, so gold and building Marketplaces and Banks has been crucial to do the upgrading I've needed.
I've destroyed the one Roman town on my continent; Rome has amassed a large flotilla of Frigates (and a few Galleass's) which are harassing Cadiz in the far SouthEast corner. I'm building Galleons for transport, but I'm going to need to build a number of offensive ships to keep those Roman Frigates/Galleass's off of mine.
I've gotten 'We Love the Sultan' days; the Padishah must be a Civ 1.29 enhancement.
BTW, some great games!! Wow, what an early conquest of SirPleb's!! Shows what can happen if you focus on the issues.
I've noticed that the Celts were indeed poor and backward. However, I'm sure that my stealing 2 workers from them early on was pretty significant. Carthage seemed to start pretty well; fortunately for me they built the Pyramids, and the Great Lighthouse; I don't know how much that ultimately helped them, but I've got to feel it made them easier conquests. I'll have more to say about Rome and her Navy (and hopefully her Conquest) at a later time. And on the 3rd continent, the mix of resources and space available is interesting. Spain is very advanced, but quite resource poor. (As was Egypt, I believe.) China seems limited for space in my game. India has the best position currently, but that is partly my doing.
I'm very confident in my game, about everything except time to finish it. The starting position was great; lots of rivers, bonus food sources and luxuries, and lots of space. A fun game, and I had some opportunities to test out some combat situations that I rarely have time for.
I ended my first spoiler in 490 BC. An inadvertant suicide galley (I mis-moved, and decided to head out since I couldn't make it back to Coast; on turn 2 I met ...) made it to the Chinese, and a massive round of Trading ensued leaving me in the Middle Ages with a Free engineering Tech (Perfect choice IMO).
I finished off the Celts in 410 BC with Swordsmen, completed my FP in Aydin (next to Sogut) in the mid-300's BC, became Republic about that same time (7 turns), and did a Capital Flip to Richborough, located at the Southern Tip of the large inland Lake (Thanks to DaveMcW's posts).
I was just about ready to attack Carthage after the Capital move. In 70 BC I traded around all the communications between the continents because someone, somewhere was about to finish the GLighthouse (I could just feel it about to happen). I started the war with Carthage with Azap Warriors in 70 AD; ouch! I took Carthage (with the Pyramids, too), but lost 5 Azaps to 3 NumMercs. So I defended until I got Chivalry, upgraded some Horses to Knights, and started the Offensive again. A little better results, about 20-30% losses, but still a bit high. After taking about 5 cities we declare peace and I continue researching to MilTrad.
Which I get around 530 AD; 20 turns peace expires in 580 AD, and war is resumed. The Sipahi are much more successful. (But most of you know that already.) By 630 AD Carthage is down to 1 city on the island east of Rome.
I'd fomented a 3 way alliance (India/Spain/China vs Egypt), and India finishes off Egypt totally. Next I've set Spain and China against India. I'd not realized how resource poor Spain was: they're paying me a lot for Iron and Horses. In retrospect, I should have let India pretty much do in China and Spain, maybe separately, so that by giving them a tundra city I could probably count on them for UN votes if it comes to that. OTOH, I'm not sure I'd want India to have all the Wonders that Spain has built.
I've spent most of my GA saving up money for the Rome invasion, and building lots of Pikemen for upgrades to Muskets, (Disconnected Saltpeter to do that), while maintaining 4 turn research. I've just reached the Industrial Age in late 700's, only missing Economics from the MA, while the rest are still working on Theory of Gravity. At one point I had just over 10,000 gold, with up to +600 gpt at times. I don't have Leonardo's, so gold and building Marketplaces and Banks has been crucial to do the upgrading I've needed.
I've destroyed the one Roman town on my continent; Rome has amassed a large flotilla of Frigates (and a few Galleass's) which are harassing Cadiz in the far SouthEast corner. I'm building Galleons for transport, but I'm going to need to build a number of offensive ships to keep those Roman Frigates/Galleass's off of mine.
I've gotten 'We Love the Sultan' days; the Padishah must be a Civ 1.29 enhancement.
BTW, some great games!! Wow, what an early conquest of SirPleb's!! Shows what can happen if you focus on the issues.
I've noticed that the Celts were indeed poor and backward. However, I'm sure that my stealing 2 workers from them early on was pretty significant. Carthage seemed to start pretty well; fortunately for me they built the Pyramids, and the Great Lighthouse; I don't know how much that ultimately helped them, but I've got to feel it made them easier conquests. I'll have more to say about Rome and her Navy (and hopefully her Conquest) at a later time. And on the 3rd continent, the mix of resources and space available is interesting. Spain is very advanced, but quite resource poor. (As was Egypt, I believe.) China seems limited for space in my game. India has the best position currently, but that is partly my doing.
I'm very confident in my game, about everything except time to finish it. The starting position was great; lots of rivers, bonus food sources and luxuries, and lots of space. A fun game, and I had some opportunities to test out some combat situations that I rarely have time for.
well looks like i wont have enough time to finish this game before the deadline. so far i'm at 1684 and have nearly conquered the india/egypt/china contenent. rome is intact. oh well i'll finish out the game, but more importantly, i'm getting ready to play the diety/spain game.
PART TWO gotm19 - 410 BC thru 1040 AD, i.e. the beginning of steam and the industrial age
BEGINNING OF MIDDLE AGES- PART TWO
410 Overran Entremont and the Oracle. Made peace with the Celts and nailed a Carthy settler team heading for empty land up north. Continue to harvest Pict villages up there. Got the Great Library a while back and have saved almost 1000g on research. Got gunpowder and we have saltpeter.
470 Choose republic. Treasury is 712; income is 203 for a gain of 12. Science is 87 (50%), entertainment is 0, corruption is 44, and maintenance is still 22. We have 38 units and since none are allowed they cost 38g.
480 Carthage declares war and continues attack.
490 We launch our first galley from Izmet.
500 [annotated score and power timelines] A third mountain fortress west toward Lugdunum solidifies the center of the Entremont Line. Next we must fortify the mountain next to Uskudar.
Peace treaty with the Celts ends in seven turns. Hopefully can end this war with the Carthies about then, convert to cannon and demolish the last of these pesky Celts before they stumble into a GA. We will research for Military Tradition and kick off our GA when we finish off Carthage - we will control the continent.
530 Trade Education to the Celts for 20g. They wanted Gunpowder - they donât know they have saltpeter so kept them ignorant. That will be our target in the next Celtic war. The musket men at Uskudar stopped the Carthies thrust around the right end of the Entremont/Uskudar Line in the Jungle.
540 We establish an Embassy with the Celts in Lugdunum. Must keep them sweet while these wars go on - even give them gunpowder?
Lugdunum has one happy, two contented, one unhappy and one clown with zero growth. There are no roads, mines or irrigation. PFC is 1, 10, 10 - this is a jungle border town but it is the capital since the end of the last Celtic war. They are building a Long bowman. It I give them saltpeter they canât attack me and when the time comes I can cut off their iron - it is close to the border an the end of the Entremont Line which should now grow west into the Celtic Incense Mountains.
Meanwhile we got some war problems back home with a Carthy invasion fleet and Rome threatening in the background.
We give the Celts Education to join us against the Carthies. If they give us RoP we can go sit on their iron. This is for twenty turns?!
550 The Celts declare war on Carthage and give us right of passage. Since the Carthies are retreating it is time to organize an expedition. Their fleet hasnât landed anyone yet and the Romans havenât shown up.
570 The Celts join Rome in war against us and Egypt extorts 28g. We still have the Carthies to deal with so this is turning in to a war for existence. I will continue to develop the integrity of the cities on the northern coast with courthouses and aqueducts and I will use horse soldiers to intercept landing parties. Meanwhile I will develop cannon and use surplus population in Sogut to drive a wedge of cities and fortresses south into the mountains.
590 We pay 29g to China. They have the printing press.
600 India joins Romeâs war against us. In the north our new galley sank a Roman galley. There are still three or four Carthy galleys in the area. The Carthies are fielding knights so we will need the cannon we get next move.
620 Leptus Magnus has the Art of War and therefore Carthage has barracks everywhere - I need this and will own it eventually. The knights from Carthage are attacking Lugdunum so does the pact I made with them still holds even though they have joined the Roman League against us?
The Carthy fleet has landed a single spearman in the north - sort of anticlimactic. We start building cannon and begin research for Military Tradition in 12 turns - the ticket to our GA. I will build no military units for the present. Instead I will upgrade my catapults and horsemen while grinding forward with settlers and fortresses in the mountains to the south while dealing with hostile landings in the Home Peninsula. We are at war with the Celts and the Carthies on our continent, and we have Rome and India coming at us from overseas. Will set up embassies in China and Egypt to keep them from joining the Roman Coalition. Thebes has four happy faces, four unhappy faces and two clowns for a pop of 10, growth in 13 with a palace, barracks, old temple and a library. They will complete the Sistine Chapel in 24. PFC is 14, 22, 26 and form of government is Republic just like us. They have saltpeter, iron and horse and 3 gold in the treasury. The garrison is four pike men. Peking has two happy faces, seven content faces and two unhappy faces for a pop of 11, growth in 3 with a palace, barracks temple, library, cathedral and the Hanging Gardens. They will complete the Sistine Chapel in 18. PFC = 16, 25, 32 and government is also Republic. They have saltpeter, iron and horse and 25 gold. Two musket men and two pike men. We give the Chinese and the Egyptians metallurgy to join our anti-Roman Alliance. This is now a world war.
640 A Roman galley has landed two Legionnaires on Eastern Point just north of Edirne. A second Roman galley is coming into view south of Edirne the Lost.
700ï_Make peace with Rome and declare war on China to make the Celts feel good. Build an embassy in Rome.Rome has a pop of 12 with 6 happy, two content and four unhappy. The city has palace, barracks, granary, temple, marketplace, library, cathedral, university and a coliseum with a culture of 20. They have iron and horse but no saltpeter. They have wine, incense, ivory and silk for six happy faces. PFC = 18, 29, 68 (34 to treasury and 32 to research). They will complete a bank in five turns. 327 in treasury and republic government
750 Lost a Caravel returning from across the India Sea. An Indian ship appears to the northeast and a galley joins the Chinese Caravel off the northwest coast. Our Sepahi awaits first blood. Our Caravel engages and is lost. Our galley attacks and sinks the Indian ship. India is willing to make peace for 40g although we need the money right now to upgrade Knights and catapults to Sepahi and cannon. A Golden Age awaits.
760 The GA begins.
780 The Chinese would make peace even-steven, the Indians want 40g. The people of this Republic have never known peace so I believe it is best to keep distant embroilments going. (In hindsight I donât believe this is true).
790 Make peace with the Chinese. Once we get the military upgrade and have a few settlers standing by, we can move south. We build Kafa in the far east, pushing into Celtic lands.
800 Set research for Navigation. I need a couple of Explorer units to cut the roads south from Celtic lands to Carthaginian lands.
810 Two Caravels sailing west from North Point spy a Roman galley far out in the western seas. Navigation will give me access to these waters.
820 The last catapults are upgraded â we have now have 11 cannon. We deploy two in the north, two on the right flank, and 6 in the siege train that will finish the Celts â right after the GA ends.
870 The Egyptians land a settler and pikeman on North Point. The cav unit kills them bang for two more settlers. Made peace with India. What to do about planned strike into Celt Land and Carthage? Try to wait out GA building civic improvements, not military units.
900 Our vet Caravel sinks an Egyptian galley beyond the northern fog in Indian waters.
910 Roman ships engage unseen units in the Indian Sea. Apparently they are at war with the Chinese.
920 We give silks to the Chinese and trade silk to the Carthies for 8gp = 160g. It is nearly time to overrun the Celts. The GA should end about 960 so in four turns we strike.
930 Our Caravel sinks an Egyptian galley at East Point beyond Kafa.
940 We open an embassy in Delhi. They have 2 happy, 6 content and 1 unhappy with growth in 2. PFC = 13, 22, 60 with 28 in treasury. Government is Democracy and they are building Shakespeareâs theater. Palace, temple, marketplace, library, bank, cathedral, university, coliseum and the Great Wall for culture of 20 per, expand in 44. Saltpeter, iron and horse; wine and ivory. Garrison 4 pike men. We trade silks to India for 1g per.
960 Rome and China make peace. A Sepahi unit overruns the Celtic city of --------. We razed the place for several slaves. The GA ends.
990 Egypt and China declare war on us. I must stop waiting for settlers and finish the Celts off. I thought I was giving China silks or something so why are they doing this?
1000 We pay Egypt 160g to make peace. This leaves China out on a limb and gives a bit more leeway for planting settlers before destroying the large Celtic cities. We trade silk and dyes for their wine.
1010 Our China Sea Caravel sinks a Chinese galley off the Chinese coast. More of our ships are moving to deny China access to our west coast. Egypt extorts 60g. I donât need a gratuitous war right now when I am finishing off the Celts and getting ready to stab Carthage in the back. These Egyptians have music, democracy, economics and theory of gravity. They are certainly my long term problem. We give them silk and dyes for wine and 19g. Something about this deal they donât like? Next time- Zip!
1020 We found Emanopidu which seals off the jungle heartland of this continent for us. Now we can overrun Lugdunum. We raze that place and get two slaves. Rome extorts dyes from us. Wait till we nail Carthage. Rome has music, democracy, economics, and gravity â same as Egypt. Egypt declares war on the Indians.
1040 We have a ROP with the Romans. We found Ankara and start building a new palace. We overrun and raze ---------. We get three slaves. In the City of Carthage Smithâs Trading Company has been completed â we will make some big money here.
THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES â PART TWO
Kiregh
BEGINNING OF MIDDLE AGES- PART TWO
410 Overran Entremont and the Oracle. Made peace with the Celts and nailed a Carthy settler team heading for empty land up north. Continue to harvest Pict villages up there. Got the Great Library a while back and have saved almost 1000g on research. Got gunpowder and we have saltpeter.
470 Choose republic. Treasury is 712; income is 203 for a gain of 12. Science is 87 (50%), entertainment is 0, corruption is 44, and maintenance is still 22. We have 38 units and since none are allowed they cost 38g.
480 Carthage declares war and continues attack.
490 We launch our first galley from Izmet.
500 [annotated score and power timelines] A third mountain fortress west toward Lugdunum solidifies the center of the Entremont Line. Next we must fortify the mountain next to Uskudar.
Peace treaty with the Celts ends in seven turns. Hopefully can end this war with the Carthies about then, convert to cannon and demolish the last of these pesky Celts before they stumble into a GA. We will research for Military Tradition and kick off our GA when we finish off Carthage - we will control the continent.
530 Trade Education to the Celts for 20g. They wanted Gunpowder - they donât know they have saltpeter so kept them ignorant. That will be our target in the next Celtic war. The musket men at Uskudar stopped the Carthies thrust around the right end of the Entremont/Uskudar Line in the Jungle.
540 We establish an Embassy with the Celts in Lugdunum. Must keep them sweet while these wars go on - even give them gunpowder?
Lugdunum has one happy, two contented, one unhappy and one clown with zero growth. There are no roads, mines or irrigation. PFC is 1, 10, 10 - this is a jungle border town but it is the capital since the end of the last Celtic war. They are building a Long bowman. It I give them saltpeter they canât attack me and when the time comes I can cut off their iron - it is close to the border an the end of the Entremont Line which should now grow west into the Celtic Incense Mountains.
Meanwhile we got some war problems back home with a Carthy invasion fleet and Rome threatening in the background.
We give the Celts Education to join us against the Carthies. If they give us RoP we can go sit on their iron. This is for twenty turns?!
550 The Celts declare war on Carthage and give us right of passage. Since the Carthies are retreating it is time to organize an expedition. Their fleet hasnât landed anyone yet and the Romans havenât shown up.
570 The Celts join Rome in war against us and Egypt extorts 28g. We still have the Carthies to deal with so this is turning in to a war for existence. I will continue to develop the integrity of the cities on the northern coast with courthouses and aqueducts and I will use horse soldiers to intercept landing parties. Meanwhile I will develop cannon and use surplus population in Sogut to drive a wedge of cities and fortresses south into the mountains.
590 We pay 29g to China. They have the printing press.
600 India joins Romeâs war against us. In the north our new galley sank a Roman galley. There are still three or four Carthy galleys in the area. The Carthies are fielding knights so we will need the cannon we get next move.
620 Leptus Magnus has the Art of War and therefore Carthage has barracks everywhere - I need this and will own it eventually. The knights from Carthage are attacking Lugdunum so does the pact I made with them still holds even though they have joined the Roman League against us?
The Carthy fleet has landed a single spearman in the north - sort of anticlimactic. We start building cannon and begin research for Military Tradition in 12 turns - the ticket to our GA. I will build no military units for the present. Instead I will upgrade my catapults and horsemen while grinding forward with settlers and fortresses in the mountains to the south while dealing with hostile landings in the Home Peninsula. We are at war with the Celts and the Carthies on our continent, and we have Rome and India coming at us from overseas. Will set up embassies in China and Egypt to keep them from joining the Roman Coalition. Thebes has four happy faces, four unhappy faces and two clowns for a pop of 10, growth in 13 with a palace, barracks, old temple and a library. They will complete the Sistine Chapel in 24. PFC is 14, 22, 26 and form of government is Republic just like us. They have saltpeter, iron and horse and 3 gold in the treasury. The garrison is four pike men. Peking has two happy faces, seven content faces and two unhappy faces for a pop of 11, growth in 3 with a palace, barracks temple, library, cathedral and the Hanging Gardens. They will complete the Sistine Chapel in 18. PFC = 16, 25, 32 and government is also Republic. They have saltpeter, iron and horse and 25 gold. Two musket men and two pike men. We give the Chinese and the Egyptians metallurgy to join our anti-Roman Alliance. This is now a world war.
640 A Roman galley has landed two Legionnaires on Eastern Point just north of Edirne. A second Roman galley is coming into view south of Edirne the Lost.
700ï_Make peace with Rome and declare war on China to make the Celts feel good. Build an embassy in Rome.Rome has a pop of 12 with 6 happy, two content and four unhappy. The city has palace, barracks, granary, temple, marketplace, library, cathedral, university and a coliseum with a culture of 20. They have iron and horse but no saltpeter. They have wine, incense, ivory and silk for six happy faces. PFC = 18, 29, 68 (34 to treasury and 32 to research). They will complete a bank in five turns. 327 in treasury and republic government
750 Lost a Caravel returning from across the India Sea. An Indian ship appears to the northeast and a galley joins the Chinese Caravel off the northwest coast. Our Sepahi awaits first blood. Our Caravel engages and is lost. Our galley attacks and sinks the Indian ship. India is willing to make peace for 40g although we need the money right now to upgrade Knights and catapults to Sepahi and cannon. A Golden Age awaits.
760 The GA begins.
780 The Chinese would make peace even-steven, the Indians want 40g. The people of this Republic have never known peace so I believe it is best to keep distant embroilments going. (In hindsight I donât believe this is true).
790 Make peace with the Chinese. Once we get the military upgrade and have a few settlers standing by, we can move south. We build Kafa in the far east, pushing into Celtic lands.
800 Set research for Navigation. I need a couple of Explorer units to cut the roads south from Celtic lands to Carthaginian lands.
810 Two Caravels sailing west from North Point spy a Roman galley far out in the western seas. Navigation will give me access to these waters.
820 The last catapults are upgraded â we have now have 11 cannon. We deploy two in the north, two on the right flank, and 6 in the siege train that will finish the Celts â right after the GA ends.
870 The Egyptians land a settler and pikeman on North Point. The cav unit kills them bang for two more settlers. Made peace with India. What to do about planned strike into Celt Land and Carthage? Try to wait out GA building civic improvements, not military units.
900 Our vet Caravel sinks an Egyptian galley beyond the northern fog in Indian waters.
910 Roman ships engage unseen units in the Indian Sea. Apparently they are at war with the Chinese.
920 We give silks to the Chinese and trade silk to the Carthies for 8gp = 160g. It is nearly time to overrun the Celts. The GA should end about 960 so in four turns we strike.
930 Our Caravel sinks an Egyptian galley at East Point beyond Kafa.
940 We open an embassy in Delhi. They have 2 happy, 6 content and 1 unhappy with growth in 2. PFC = 13, 22, 60 with 28 in treasury. Government is Democracy and they are building Shakespeareâs theater. Palace, temple, marketplace, library, bank, cathedral, university, coliseum and the Great Wall for culture of 20 per, expand in 44. Saltpeter, iron and horse; wine and ivory. Garrison 4 pike men. We trade silks to India for 1g per.
960 Rome and China make peace. A Sepahi unit overruns the Celtic city of --------. We razed the place for several slaves. The GA ends.
990 Egypt and China declare war on us. I must stop waiting for settlers and finish the Celts off. I thought I was giving China silks or something so why are they doing this?
1000 We pay Egypt 160g to make peace. This leaves China out on a limb and gives a bit more leeway for planting settlers before destroying the large Celtic cities. We trade silk and dyes for their wine.
1010 Our China Sea Caravel sinks a Chinese galley off the Chinese coast. More of our ships are moving to deny China access to our west coast. Egypt extorts 60g. I donât need a gratuitous war right now when I am finishing off the Celts and getting ready to stab Carthage in the back. These Egyptians have music, democracy, economics and theory of gravity. They are certainly my long term problem. We give them silk and dyes for wine and 19g. Something about this deal they donât like? Next time- Zip!
1020 We found Emanopidu which seals off the jungle heartland of this continent for us. Now we can overrun Lugdunum. We raze that place and get two slaves. Rome extorts dyes from us. Wait till we nail Carthage. Rome has music, democracy, economics, and gravity â same as Egypt. Egypt declares war on the Indians.
1040 We have a ROP with the Romans. We found Ankara and start building a new palace. We overrun and raze ---------. We get three slaves. In the City of Carthage Smithâs Trading Company has been completed â we will make some big money here.
THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES â PART TWO
Kiregh
I entered the middle ages fairly soon after my last post, and went straight for Education, to deny India most of the benefits from the Great Library. After looking at the world's situation, I decided to either a) get Domination with Sipahi or b) get a larger second core in Carthage with Sipahi and go for diplomatic/space race victory.
I started building horsemen early on, and later knights. Errant AI behavior helped, as Rome decided to conquer a Celtic city when I had eight knights nearby...
I grabbed the city, and shortly after acquiring a few more knights (and upgrading my spare warriors), I eliminated the Celts to one city in the space of 4 turns, and waited for the last one to expand its borders as I didn't have a spare settler. My cities all had libraries, or were about to finish them, making my science powerful enough to place me in bargaining position tech-wise.
Carthage was the perennial 2nd power during the Middle Ages, the Pyramids boosting growth, and until Hannibal found Gandhi I had the best of both worlds- Hannibal went the bottom half of the tech tree, and the other AI the top half. (The other AI together only researched about 1.5X the speed of Hannibal- a testament to the power of the Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, and industrious workers). Rome kept squabbling with first the Celts, and then Carthage, and generally blew its massive lead at the start of the era due to not researching Republic- Caesar spent half the Middle Ages in Monarchy, and suffered as a result.
Late in the Middle Ages, Egypt declared war on India, but until then the 4-civ continent was relatively peaceful. Eliminating the Celts didn't hurt the AI's opinion of me that much, as I razed no cities, hitting Brennus with a knight blitz to knock out any potential cultural challengers faster than the cities could flip. I also had a culture second only to Rome, and equal to India, as a lot of early libraries to expand cultural boundaries helped.
Wonder-wise, I grabbed Sun Tzu's, Leo's, and Smith's by careful prebuilding, as I knew that I would a) go to war where free barracks to heal quickly would help enormously and b) need lots of cash for Sipahi upgrades, as they cost as much as a tank.
In 710 AD, I discovered Military Tradition, traded that plus about 80g to Egypt for Physics, and turned off research. Trading this set off a chain reaction of MT discovery, causing several major wars on the 4civ continent. In 800 AD, after Hannibal stopped paying me for a tech I had sold him, I entered the Industrial Age, drew Steam Power as my free tech, and sent 28 Sipahi into Carthage, starting my Golden Age. In 840 AD, I captured Carthage, with the Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, and Copernicus' Observatory. 880 AD marked the disappearance of Carthage from the original continent, as I captured the last Carthagnian city. Despite many elite victories, no leaders appeared during this war.
900 AD marked the belated building of the Forbidden Palace in Iznik. Given the AI tech pace, and that I would have to conquer part of the 4-civ continent to trigger domination in any case, I decided to bite chunks out of the AI on that continent first, leaving backward Rome, the least likely to get Nationalism quickly, for last. Spain lacked horses or iron, and so was my first target. The first attack in 980 AD with 40 Sipahi produced a great leader, Orhan, who moved the Palace to Carthage's former capital. In 1000 AD, Isabella gives up her throne. The turn afterwards, Cleo gets Nationalism.
Leader #2, Murad, arrived in the first turn of the assault on India in 1020 ad, and in 1090 ad India perished. The same turn, I attack China and take on an MPP with Egypt to avoid getting backstabbed, giving me time to rushbuild libraries in my new acquisitions. This worked out nicely- Egypt sent single cavalry units out front, luring the counterattacks and allowing my Sipahi to attack without much harassment on the way.
China falls in 1200ad, and I send my Sipahi back to prepare for Rome, which I attack in 1250ad. Rome had veteran rifles, but no cash or legal trade tender to rush more, and conquering Roman territory while rushing libraries nets me domination victory in 1305 ad with a Firaxis score of 6088.
Although I reached a few techs into the Industrial Age, nothing beyond Steam Power and Nationalism made any difference. Having rails speeded conquest, as well as troop organization, and rifles delayed the acquisition of Roman cities slightly. I tried to strike before the AI targets I chose would have either the time to build rifles or the money to upgrade them, and I largely succeeded: India never fielded a non-conscript rifle that I saw, and China only had a few regulars around. Rome's vets gave my Sipahi the most trouble, but still fell to sufficient force. This game reinforced the lessons of HOT3 about the awesome power of Sipahi.
Grabbing Sun Tzu's, Leo's, and Smith's was key to this strategy, once I formulated it- free barracks, cheap upgrades to start off the Sipahi ride, and a continuous flow of money to rush culture and defenders in new cities far away from home. With the amount of luxuries present on the home continent, even in the original radius before I went to war, almost all native citizens and most foreign nationals behaved themselves. I had a 7-turn revolt to Republic shortly before hitting the Middle Ages, and never left it.
Here are some pictures of the minimap from the military advisor, to highlight my progress:
880 AD & 1000 AD:
1090 AD & 1200 AD:
Endgame:
I started building horsemen early on, and later knights. Errant AI behavior helped, as Rome decided to conquer a Celtic city when I had eight knights nearby...
I grabbed the city, and shortly after acquiring a few more knights (and upgrading my spare warriors), I eliminated the Celts to one city in the space of 4 turns, and waited for the last one to expand its borders as I didn't have a spare settler. My cities all had libraries, or were about to finish them, making my science powerful enough to place me in bargaining position tech-wise. Carthage was the perennial 2nd power during the Middle Ages, the Pyramids boosting growth, and until Hannibal found Gandhi I had the best of both worlds- Hannibal went the bottom half of the tech tree, and the other AI the top half. (The other AI together only researched about 1.5X the speed of Hannibal- a testament to the power of the Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, and industrious workers). Rome kept squabbling with first the Celts, and then Carthage, and generally blew its massive lead at the start of the era due to not researching Republic- Caesar spent half the Middle Ages in Monarchy, and suffered as a result.
Late in the Middle Ages, Egypt declared war on India, but until then the 4-civ continent was relatively peaceful. Eliminating the Celts didn't hurt the AI's opinion of me that much, as I razed no cities, hitting Brennus with a knight blitz to knock out any potential cultural challengers faster than the cities could flip. I also had a culture second only to Rome, and equal to India, as a lot of early libraries to expand cultural boundaries helped.
Wonder-wise, I grabbed Sun Tzu's, Leo's, and Smith's by careful prebuilding, as I knew that I would a) go to war where free barracks to heal quickly would help enormously and b) need lots of cash for Sipahi upgrades, as they cost as much as a tank.
In 710 AD, I discovered Military Tradition, traded that plus about 80g to Egypt for Physics, and turned off research. Trading this set off a chain reaction of MT discovery, causing several major wars on the 4civ continent. In 800 AD, after Hannibal stopped paying me for a tech I had sold him, I entered the Industrial Age, drew Steam Power as my free tech, and sent 28 Sipahi into Carthage, starting my Golden Age. In 840 AD, I captured Carthage, with the Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, and Copernicus' Observatory. 880 AD marked the disappearance of Carthage from the original continent, as I captured the last Carthagnian city. Despite many elite victories, no leaders appeared during this war.
900 AD marked the belated building of the Forbidden Palace in Iznik. Given the AI tech pace, and that I would have to conquer part of the 4-civ continent to trigger domination in any case, I decided to bite chunks out of the AI on that continent first, leaving backward Rome, the least likely to get Nationalism quickly, for last. Spain lacked horses or iron, and so was my first target. The first attack in 980 AD with 40 Sipahi produced a great leader, Orhan, who moved the Palace to Carthage's former capital. In 1000 AD, Isabella gives up her throne. The turn afterwards, Cleo gets Nationalism.
Leader #2, Murad, arrived in the first turn of the assault on India in 1020 ad, and in 1090 ad India perished. The same turn, I attack China and take on an MPP with Egypt to avoid getting backstabbed, giving me time to rushbuild libraries in my new acquisitions. This worked out nicely- Egypt sent single cavalry units out front, luring the counterattacks and allowing my Sipahi to attack without much harassment on the way.
China falls in 1200ad, and I send my Sipahi back to prepare for Rome, which I attack in 1250ad. Rome had veteran rifles, but no cash or legal trade tender to rush more, and conquering Roman territory while rushing libraries nets me domination victory in 1305 ad with a Firaxis score of 6088.
Although I reached a few techs into the Industrial Age, nothing beyond Steam Power and Nationalism made any difference. Having rails speeded conquest, as well as troop organization, and rifles delayed the acquisition of Roman cities slightly. I tried to strike before the AI targets I chose would have either the time to build rifles or the money to upgrade them, and I largely succeeded: India never fielded a non-conscript rifle that I saw, and China only had a few regulars around. Rome's vets gave my Sipahi the most trouble, but still fell to sufficient force. This game reinforced the lessons of HOT3 about the awesome power of Sipahi.
Grabbing Sun Tzu's, Leo's, and Smith's was key to this strategy, once I formulated it- free barracks, cheap upgrades to start off the Sipahi ride, and a continuous flow of money to rush culture and defenders in new cities far away from home. With the amount of luxuries present on the home continent, even in the original radius before I went to war, almost all native citizens and most foreign nationals behaved themselves. I had a 7-turn revolt to Republic shortly before hitting the Middle Ages, and never left it.
Here are some pictures of the minimap from the military advisor, to highlight my progress:
880 AD & 1000 AD:
1090 AD & 1200 AD:
Endgame:
DaviddesJ
Deity
Am I missing something? If you turn on the option for the governor to manage happiness, then it also insists on positioning your citizens. So you can't decide where they will work, and still count on the governor to avoid disorder. Can you?
Since I started trying to play Emperor and Deity I have turned the city governors off. The governor also seems to err on the side of ensuring *more* people are happy than unhappy. You actually only need *equal* numbers on each side, so you can lose out on collecting tax or using a scientist in mimimum tech mode. The other effect could be that you forget to use the entertainment slider, and end up with the governors using too many specialists and slowing your growth.
cracker
Gil Favor's Sidekick
Some people may miss the tongue-in-cheek humor here because my bet is that this is not a likely occurance in your games. (Sly one).Originally posted by DaveMcW
I tell the governor to manage moods when I get my first disorder.
This governors/disorder issue is also one of my major conflicts with the highly touted new feature in PTW that lets you cycle through all you cities that are in disorder. I think that if you need this feature on a regular basis that one of the side effects of pusshing that button is that a miniature Sid Meier ought to jump out of your CD drawer and put two slugs into your temple just to put your out of your misery. What we need to really help players is a cycle feature that cycles through all the cities the WILL GO INTO DISORDER if you do not issue some competent instructions in the form of task assignment and/or entertainment spending.
There is almost a direct correlation between automated worker use plus use of the governors and the eventual lack of success in games at any game at of the difficulty levels above Emperor (or parhaps even Monarch).
Perhaps this will be a good test game for a predator class contest where we add the honor system rule that Predator players must automate all workers (OK to shift-A) and must permanently engage all governors to control moods even from turn 1.
ControlFreak
Not An Addict, Really
(Continuing Crackers off topic discussion of governers.)
Trolling though the SG, there are a number of "play like the AI" succession games going. These involve automating workers, using mood governers, accepting every build request and in some stricter cases forced trading whenever a trade becomes available, even if you don't need what you're buying.
Using governers and automated workers takes away the humans ability to control these things. A decent player utilizes workers and controls citizens better than the AI and thus beats the AI. Newer players may not utilize workers/citizens as well as the AI and thus have a percieved improvement when turning these on. However, without doing these tasks, you will never get better at them.
Congratulations to all the great players out there who's skill at city placement and troop movement so surpasses the AI that they can win with the Governers turned on. For the rest of us, start doing these things yourself, make the mistakes and learn from them. It takes more time to play the game but the results will be worth the little extra effort.
BTW, if you're not using mood badges or some graphic mod to help you identify happy/sad faces, download one. They really help you check on your cities from the F1 screen.
Trolling though the SG, there are a number of "play like the AI" succession games going. These involve automating workers, using mood governers, accepting every build request and in some stricter cases forced trading whenever a trade becomes available, even if you don't need what you're buying.
Using governers and automated workers takes away the humans ability to control these things. A decent player utilizes workers and controls citizens better than the AI and thus beats the AI. Newer players may not utilize workers/citizens as well as the AI and thus have a percieved improvement when turning these on. However, without doing these tasks, you will never get better at them.
Congratulations to all the great players out there who's skill at city placement and troop movement so surpasses the AI that they can win with the Governers turned on. For the rest of us, start doing these things yourself, make the mistakes and learn from them. It takes more time to play the game but the results will be worth the little extra effort.
BTW, if you're not using mood badges or some graphic mod to help you identify happy/sad faces, download one. They really help you check on your cities from the F1 screen.
hotrod0823
Deity
Check out the : G'Day Govn'a Game
This is an Emperor SG with a simple rule. Must use Governors and automated workers (Shift-A, Shift-N, etc.)
The only exception was 1 player determined worker action per turn. (There aren't many times you can actually do this)
We are winning Thanks to great play by Meldor, Cartouche Bee, and Skyfish.
Worker efficency goes to hell, there are no min scientist gambits with a lone scientist. Lux slider needs to be adjusted before growth to most effiently use citizens and minimize entertainers.
All that being said you still can have riots - not sure why but our conquered city of Atlanta has rioted multiple times.
It is an added challenge - I am anxious to see what happens with rails ???
Hotrod
This is an Emperor SG with a simple rule. Must use Governors and automated workers (Shift-A, Shift-N, etc.)
The only exception was 1 player determined worker action per turn. (There aren't many times you can actually do this)
We are winning Thanks to great play by Meldor, Cartouche Bee, and Skyfish
.Worker efficency goes to hell, there are no min scientist gambits with a lone scientist. Lux slider needs to be adjusted before growth to most effiently use citizens and minimize entertainers.
All that being said you still can have riots - not sure why but our conquered city of Atlanta has rioted multiple times.
It is an added challenge - I am anxious to see what happens with rails ???
Hotrod
DaveMcW
Deity
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2002
- Messages
- 6,489
Actually, it usually happens before 1000BC.
If I have a lot of luxuries I'll turn the governor on even before disorder hits.I think the extreme micromanangement needed to keep all the citizens of a large empire at 100% productivity is a waste of time and brainpower. I'd much rather dream up new and better strategies, or just finish the game and start another.
I'll micromanage when I get a decent return out of it, but scrolling through 50 cities every turn is not fun. I also Shift-A my slaves once I have railroads, because I have to give them twice as many orders to get anything done.
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