*Spoiler2* Gotm20-Spain - Full Map+Mag+Grav
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Arrrr, I have to say I'm pleased with my progress through the middle ages. I took a shot with maybe 2 suicide galleys, and when they were destroyed by squid I gave up on them. When India made first contact in 650BC, I bought the cheapest communications and made a cascading set of trades anyway to pull me almost out of the ancient age. I stayed there as long as possible to build cheap horsemen, only accepting Horseback Riding when I became the first to get the Republic in 550bc. Surprisingly, it was worth...nada. Other civs got it at the same time. But with the Ottomans long gone, no one had advanced into the middle ages at all.
From there, my Middle Ages were pretty much one long war with the French. I declared war in 210bc and went for a medieval warrior rush attack. India joined me against France, I should have taken the Zulus instead, as they proceeded to eliminate India and ride their knights through France to attack my advance. This wreaked havoc in my plans, it was a big mistake on my part. So at this point I decided to dispense altogether with reputation. Whenever a civ like the French or the Zulu were willing to make peace, I'd offer them 175gpt for all their tech, something ridiculous, then declare war on the same turn. It felt exploitative and Dirty, but staying at war with the massive Zulu for hundreds of years was tough. France basically became a shields disposal unit for the Zulu. I survived and managed to pick away at France very slowly, didn't get a GL until 650AD, which I just saved for the upcoming TOE. War dragged on and on, Paris didn't fall until 820AD thanks to Zulu interference, but world wars were playing into my hands, along with essentially free techs in exchange for my rep. Did I mention the Pyramids were in Paris? Shame I couldn't get there sooner... Anyway, Celts and England were tamed and weakened through allying with me against the Zulu, I finally got France to fight the Zulus, on entering the IA in 890AD the only serious opponent was the Zulu, with maybe some threatening Americans and Japanese on the other continent.
The only other item worth mentioning is that I learned my lesson with my palace jump fiasco in the last Deity game. I simply hand-built a FP about 7 tiles away from the capitol in 520AD, fairly early compared to my usual no GL until 1000AD performances, and called it good. I had a juicy GA a few turns later. Conservative but effective.
From there, my Middle Ages were pretty much one long war with the French. I declared war in 210bc and went for a medieval warrior rush attack. India joined me against France, I should have taken the Zulus instead, as they proceeded to eliminate India and ride their knights through France to attack my advance. This wreaked havoc in my plans, it was a big mistake on my part. So at this point I decided to dispense altogether with reputation. Whenever a civ like the French or the Zulu were willing to make peace, I'd offer them 175gpt for all their tech, something ridiculous, then declare war on the same turn. It felt exploitative and Dirty, but staying at war with the massive Zulu for hundreds of years was tough. France basically became a shields disposal unit for the Zulu. I survived and managed to pick away at France very slowly, didn't get a GL until 650AD, which I just saved for the upcoming TOE. War dragged on and on, Paris didn't fall until 820AD thanks to Zulu interference, but world wars were playing into my hands, along with essentially free techs in exchange for my rep. Did I mention the Pyramids were in Paris? Shame I couldn't get there sooner... Anyway, Celts and England were tamed and weakened through allying with me against the Zulu, I finally got France to fight the Zulus, on entering the IA in 890AD the only serious opponent was the Zulu, with maybe some threatening Americans and Japanese on the other continent.
The only other item worth mentioning is that I learned my lesson with my palace jump fiasco in the last Deity game. I simply hand-built a FP about 7 tiles away from the capitol in 520AD, fairly early compared to my usual no GL until 1000AD performances, and called it good. I had a juicy GA a few turns later. Conservative but effective.
Qitai
.
Originally posted by tao
But they won't give you even their world map when signing the ma, correct?
Even if your reputation is completely trashed, AIs will sign turn-based deals, but never upfront anything. You may pay upfront, of course.
Just made seperate trades. Upfront payment for upfront deals. Turn base for turn base deals. I still buy/selll my world map periodically even after I broke deals. Not an issue at all. Only exception I find so far is that you can still sell re-negotiated peace for upfront payment.
CruddyLeper
Unworshipped Deity
Playing Open on 1.29f
Well, I got VERY lucky with my one and only suicide galley
340AD it set off from the southern end of the start continent, and 2 turns later it sank - just as an American boat sailed into view to give me contact!
I held off the contact trading for a while, just selling and exchanging the world map - I was holding off researching education until capturing the Great Library from the Celts, propelling me well beyond the scope of this thread.
The Ottomans and everyone else accepted a military alliance V the Celts, so in 1120 it fell into my hands - but the Ottomans are still the world leaders. They zapped the English very quickly, giving them 4 towns at the top end of the continent and most of the south of the continent.
I have had some other breaks. A leader gave me a Palace jump to Mohacs, giving me 2 cores before my Golden Age (which still hasn't happened yet - capturing JS Bach's and the Great Lighthouse is apparently not enough to trigger it. Oh well, best build some Missionaries and cut up the French some more.
Oh yes, a major casualty happened in the period. The mighty Americans were well in the lead - until I traded Iron for Silk with the Japanese.
30 turns later, America was no more - and Japan has emerged as the Ottomans main rival, Newton's giving them a tech help.
So, I've got the biggest territory, 2 cores but not a developed infrastructre. Time to wipe out the French with my remaining forces (they've got several Wonders that I could do with). India has Adam Smiths and maybe 5 cities, so again, a worthwhile target.
Things are definitely looking up... but if Osman turns nasty, I could easily lose very quickly indeed.
Finally, managed to keep my trading reputation intact. Now that is a change for me!
Well, I got VERY lucky with my one and only suicide galley
340AD it set off from the southern end of the start continent, and 2 turns later it sank - just as an American boat sailed into view to give me contact!
I held off the contact trading for a while, just selling and exchanging the world map - I was holding off researching education until capturing the Great Library from the Celts, propelling me well beyond the scope of this thread.
The Ottomans and everyone else accepted a military alliance V the Celts, so in 1120 it fell into my hands - but the Ottomans are still the world leaders. They zapped the English very quickly, giving them 4 towns at the top end of the continent and most of the south of the continent.
I have had some other breaks. A leader gave me a Palace jump to Mohacs, giving me 2 cores before my Golden Age (which still hasn't happened yet - capturing JS Bach's and the Great Lighthouse is apparently not enough to trigger it. Oh well, best build some Missionaries and cut up the French some more.
Oh yes, a major casualty happened in the period. The mighty Americans were well in the lead - until I traded Iron for Silk with the Japanese.
30 turns later, America was no more - and Japan has emerged as the Ottomans main rival, Newton's giving them a tech help.
So, I've got the biggest territory, 2 cores but not a developed infrastructre. Time to wipe out the French with my remaining forces (they've got several Wonders that I could do with). India has Adam Smiths and maybe 5 cities, so again, a worthwhile target.
Things are definitely looking up... but if Osman turns nasty, I could easily lose very quickly indeed.
Finally, managed to keep my trading reputation intact. Now that is a change for me!
Qitai
.
That was back then. Now, it is like 0.5 hours each turn once I have 2 cores. And of course, the early stages goes much quicker than that. Also, once I get pass Steam, it speeds up as well. There isn't much to do after finishing the RR so that frees up the Micro Mangement for workers. War tends to slow things down again though, since there is alot of planning to do.
My next challenge for myself would be to cut down the playing time. Would be busy in July, so I am thinking of going for a quick game for that one.
TedJackson
Cunning old Celt
![[ptw]](/images/smilies/ptw.gif "PTW Icon [ptw]")
1.14f (Euro)Unfortunately I lost my notes file in a crash but here's a brief recap of the Middle Ages from memory (and scribbled notes).
I entered the MA in 690BC due to a lucky suicide galley (my first).
I met America, traded for contacts and tech bankrupting everyone except Shaka.
My plan from this point was to act as tech broker between the two continents. I turned research off and waited for the AI to come up with new discoveries
430 BC
Managed to start a brush war in the New World: America and Aztec vs Iroq
Japan joins Alliance a few turns later210 BC
Zulu demands contact with Iroq - denied. Zulu declare war on me.
190 BC
Sign up India, France & Celts for a MA vs Zulu
130 BC
Iroq & Aztec sign PT
190 AD
Zulu land a lone Impi on our Northern shore - killed off before he could do any damage.
270 AD
Zulu finally manage to get a stack of Knights to my Southern border. We fight a few battles (about 3:1 win ratio in my favour) then they offer peace and give 8gpt.
320 AD
Something's gone wrong! I can no longer make gpt deals
I guess a trade route has been broken somewhere. Bummer!530 AD
Finally finish FP in Vitoria (brick by brick)
Peace has broken out worldwide and India is starting to runaway on tech. Around this time I spot a couple of English Caravels set off for the New World so I sell all my contacts to anyone who can pay
Start self-researching as I still can't get gpt deals.
690 AD
Enter the Industrial age with only India leading me in tech. I'm 3rd on the histograph, Zulu leads followed by Iroq.
Apart from the skirmish with the Zulu I haven't fought any wars so I am still just occupying the NW of the Old World. I had one Celt city flip to me but that's it.
I have built Cathedrals and Universities in most of my cities and have Banks in about half with more to come.
I have 68gp in the treasury and 634gp/t before research spending
I haven't triggered my GA yet and it looks as if I might actually get a win on my first Deity attempt.
Ted
I started sending out suicide galleys in 730BC.
My third galley survives one turn and luckily spots shallow water before sinking. At least I know where to head for.
I lost two more galleys to Squid.
My seventh galley gets lucky and gets to shallow water at the border between America and Irquois with an Aztec galley exploring in the same place. Buy contacts with the remaining civs.
The score at first meeting (10BC) with the last civ was:
Irquois 1335
Ottomans 1250
Japan 1178
Aztecs 1031
Keltoi 954
France 926
India 888
Spain 864
America 862
England 850
Zululand 569
In 170AD, France started Majellan's Voyage. Time to sell contacts between the old and new worlds.
I get Astronony, Music Theory, Chivalry, Navigation, and all luxuries.
I research printing press first in 330AD. Get Banking, Gunpowder, Chemistry, and Physics in trades.
380AD The Zulu are eliminated. It was a dogpile at the end. When they were down to their last city, I got some gold for signing the aliance against them. Does anyone get a reputation hit when I no longer get gold per turn for the alliance after Zulu are eliminated?
380AD: The Ottomans have two musketmen at my borders. I was building warriors and horsemen ready for a mass upgrade. I hadn't connected iron or saltpeter yet.
420AD Eight Balkan Dragoons appear at my borders. To give Ottoman something else to do, declare war against Keltoi and sign alliance with Ottomans.
This doesn't help as Ottomans declare war anyway. Unfortunately I was only paying him a few gold per turn. Others I am paying big money to. My cities are defended by few spears and warriors. I lost two cities in the first year of war.
I spend what money I have buying alliances, hoping to take the heat off me. This has little effect, France loses several cities to Ottomans. I lose more Cities to Ottomans and Keltoi. I am losing money now and can't upgrade any units to defend myself. Every turn I get "Someone should be looking after the treasury" and my infrastructure is sold along with units.
I lose my only three Missionaries without being able to start a golden age.
My empire folds like a house of cards.
Everyone is at war.
620AD France is destroyed.
680AD My last city is captured.
Things would have gone differently if I had bought lots of techs from Ottomans when it appeared they were going to attack. I replayed a few turns to see what would happen. In this situation, the Keltoi attacked me next turn. I bought alliances with everyone against Ottomans.
France took the brunt of the attack.
The Ottomans captured two of my cities and destroyed a third. I recaptured my two cities,
and also two French and one Keltoi (at the ivory and iron) than the Ottomans had taken.
This was my first deity game. I enjoyed it even if I was eliminated in the end. My one big mistake was not building up my millitary earlier. I foolishly thought that I might get a bit more warning before I was attacked.
The Ottomans were polite towards me right up to where they declared war.
The Keltoi were annoyed, but I felt that if they attacked, I could buy alliances and keep them at bay. They were far behind in technology. When they did attack, they sent mostly spearmen and warriors.
The big problem would appear to have been the sheer size of the Ottoman army he had left after the Zulu were elinimated.
I am looking forward to the next game.
My third galley survives one turn and luckily spots shallow water before sinking. At least I know where to head for.
I lost two more galleys to Squid.
My seventh galley gets lucky and gets to shallow water at the border between America and Irquois with an Aztec galley exploring in the same place. Buy contacts with the remaining civs.
The score at first meeting (10BC) with the last civ was:
Irquois 1335
Ottomans 1250
Japan 1178
Aztecs 1031
Keltoi 954
France 926
India 888
Spain 864
America 862
England 850
Zululand 569
In 170AD, France started Majellan's Voyage. Time to sell contacts between the old and new worlds.
I get Astronony, Music Theory, Chivalry, Navigation, and all luxuries.
I research printing press first in 330AD. Get Banking, Gunpowder, Chemistry, and Physics in trades.
380AD The Zulu are eliminated. It was a dogpile at the end. When they were down to their last city, I got some gold for signing the aliance against them. Does anyone get a reputation hit when I no longer get gold per turn for the alliance after Zulu are eliminated?
380AD: The Ottomans have two musketmen at my borders. I was building warriors and horsemen ready for a mass upgrade. I hadn't connected iron or saltpeter yet.
420AD Eight Balkan Dragoons appear at my borders. To give Ottoman something else to do, declare war against Keltoi and sign alliance with Ottomans.
This doesn't help as Ottomans declare war anyway. Unfortunately I was only paying him a few gold per turn. Others I am paying big money to. My cities are defended by few spears and warriors. I lost two cities in the first year of war.
I spend what money I have buying alliances, hoping to take the heat off me. This has little effect, France loses several cities to Ottomans. I lose more Cities to Ottomans and Keltoi. I am losing money now and can't upgrade any units to defend myself. Every turn I get "Someone should be looking after the treasury" and my infrastructure is sold along with units.
I lose my only three Missionaries without being able to start a golden age.
My empire folds like a house of cards.
Everyone is at war.
620AD France is destroyed.
680AD My last city is captured.
Things would have gone differently if I had bought lots of techs from Ottomans when it appeared they were going to attack. I replayed a few turns to see what would happen. In this situation, the Keltoi attacked me next turn. I bought alliances with everyone against Ottomans.
France took the brunt of the attack.
The Ottomans captured two of my cities and destroyed a third. I recaptured my two cities,
and also two French and one Keltoi (at the ivory and iron) than the Ottomans had taken.
This was my first deity game. I enjoyed it even if I was eliminated in the end. My one big mistake was not building up my millitary earlier. I foolishly thought that I might get a bit more warning before I was attacked.
The Ottomans were polite towards me right up to where they declared war.
The Keltoi were annoyed, but I felt that if they attacked, I could buy alliances and keep them at bay. They were far behind in technology. When they did attack, they sent mostly spearmen and warriors.
The big problem would appear to have been the sheer size of the Ottoman army he had left after the Zulu were elinimated.
I am looking forward to the next game.
BillChin
Prince
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2002
- Messages
- 494
Unfortunately, the answer is that YOU DO! It is not fair, but if a nation is defeated while the alliance is active, the human player takes a reputation hit as "peace" is made.
As for the second part of what I quoted, 380 AD might be okay on Regent difficulty for Horsemen and Swordsmen, because those units work better against Spearmen than vs. Pikes (or Muskets). If you are neglecting military so badly, one suggestion is to build fewer cities and fewer buildings and start building units earlier. The better suggestion is to polish up the early game so you can have both. Study the Quick Start Challenge (QSC) timelines to see how this might be done.
This month's map is a good one to practice on with all the tile bonuses. On Open and Conquest there are no barbs and the enemy civs are far away, so a player can concentrate on pure expansion early. A few practice starts played until 1000 BC or until the end of the first age can be a valuable exercise. See how many cities you can get by 1000 BC by experimenting with different starting build queues, and using the F1 luxury slider to keep people happy.
+ Bill
Svar
King
My goal for the next one is to take much longer and be more through. After I submitted I went back and played Gotm 20 about 12 times, 11 of those were abandoned early for one reason or the other.
I'm currently playing last game to completion but even in that one I have done considerable cheating and probably wont get 25% of the score of the best score.
I am learning quite a lot though and that was why I did it to prepare for Gotm 21. I also plan to play Gotm 19 honestly before Gotm 21 just to see if I'm learning anything.
Seeing how long the better players take to complete a game is a good measure of what I should be doing.
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
When I last wrote, here in spoiler1, I'd just entered the Middle Ages at 975BC.
In 1050BC my seventh suicide galley had foundered, but before it sank it hailed an American galley in the distance and had established contact. The Civs on the remote continent were a bit behind the local Civs at that time. I kept contact with them to myself and profited from trade between the two continents for a long time, eventually trading contacts in 610AD when it seemed that contact between the Civs was imminent.
Soon after contacting the remote Civs I decided to throw the world into war. The Zulu were a massive power on the home continent. In 875BC I allied everyone on the home continent against them. My purposes were to 1) keep the Zulu in check, 2) keep everyone too busy to go to war with me, 3) keep anyone from trading tech with the Zulu (they were the most advanced, having learned Feudalism at this point.) It was also nice to have everyone at war with a Civ which was unlikely to reach me. The Ottomans and France were my buffer from the Zulu in the south, India and Celts my buffer to the Zulu's north. I also allied the Aztecs and Iroquois against America to slow things down on the remote continent.
For quite a while I worked on building up strength - expansion, infrastructure, and building up an army of Horsemen. During this time the Zulu continued to grow. They had a Golden Age of course and made quite a dent in the Ottomans, almost reaching the border of France. I planned to upgrade to Knights and then attack Celts and England. I'd given up my early thoughts of jumping my Palace - the initial territory didn't have a location where I wanted to do a peaceful jump and I wasn't ready for war soon enough. I figured on good odds of getting a leader while taking over the Celt and English lands, and that would provide a nice location for rushing a new Palace. (I didn't want to start by attacking France because 1) France's land was not as good a location for the new Palace, and 2) That would expose my troops to Zulu attacks. If I took Celts and England first then I'd still have India as a buffer between me and the Zulu on one side and France as a buffer on the other.)
During this time I renewed alliances or bought new ones as necessary whenever anyone made peace with the Zulu. I never allowed them peace with anyone for long but they kept growing anyway.
Also during this time Ottomans built the Great Library (which the Zulu soon took over.) That was nice, it would give me a way to catch up on tech later.
I traded for Republic in 650BC and switched to it immediately.
In 130BC I learned Engineering at the 40 turn rate and got a bit of value from trading it.
After Engineering I researched Chivalry slowly (waiting for it to become cheaper as other Civs learned it) while continuing to build up Horsemen. In 50AD I had 62 Horsemen and felt the time was right. I bought Chivalry and upgraded 45 of the Horsemen to Knights.
From this point on I left research at zero for quite a while, figuring I'd catch up tech eventually by taking over the Great Library.
I stayed in Republic during the following wars, using the luxury slider when necessary for war weariness. I first attacked the Celts and then England. Both had culture low enough that capturing cities was safe. Even the weak Celts and England were tough opponents - I lost 19 Knights against Celts and 12 more against England. But by 330AD I'd assimilated all Celts and reduced England to one town near the Zulu - I made peace and left that English town till later.
The long wars on Celts and England did not produce a leader
so no Palace move was possible yet.Next I repositioned troops and began an assault on France. This war went quickly, I took over their last town in 440AD. During this war I acquired the Great Lighthouse from France. And near the end of it, in 430AD, I finally got my first Great Leader. The leader headed to the ex-Celt/English area to hurry a new Palace there as planned, in Mohacs.
At this point I had 42 Knights, many of them elite. The military advisor cautioned that compared to the Zulu my forces were weak! Assimiliating the Zulu was going to be tricky. Their culture, and that of the Ottamans (which matters because many of the Zulu towns were ex-Ottoman) was well over twice my culture. Flips were likely. They'd continued to grow despite ongoing war with everyone. Here's how the world looked at 440AD:
I began war on the Zulu. During this war I heavily garrisoned captured cities for one turn, then left them with just one or two units in case of flips. There were a few flips and recaptures by the Zulu but losses from this were minimal. The greatest impact was having to return troops to the ex-French lands to heal safely.
After much fighting and heavy losses, in 530AD I captured Sogut with the Great Library. It gave me eight new techs. I also got a second leader and he rushed JS Bach's, triggering a Golden Age.
I started researching again, fighting a holding battle while learning Metallurgy and then Military Tradition. I learned Military Tradition in 620AD and renewed my assault with Cavalry. In 670AD the military advisor finally conceded that our forces were about as strong as the Zulu. And at last in 780AD I finished them off.
The Zulu certainly hadn't had a problem generating leaders. Along the way I had destroyed three Zulu armies and two Zulu leaders before they were used for anything.
After the Zulu it was easy to mop up the remnants of England, Ottomans, and India. In 840AD I took the last foreign town and occupied the entire home continent. During this time I'd been building up some ships to prepare for invading the other continent.
I'd continued investing in research after Military Tradition. In 850AD I learned Magnetism and entered the Industrial Age. The Civs on the other continent are one tech behind at this point. I think that all the ongoing warfare has slowed the AI tech pace a bit.
The world map at 850AD:
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
And rightly so, that is a beautiful round Dianthus!Originally posted by Dianthus
Can you tell I'm especially proud of this trade?
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
Wow, great game Qitai!!
Qitai
.
Sir Pleb> Did you meet the Gallic Swordsman? Keitol was easy for me since my attack was ealier when it has no resource, but it looks like it didn't go as well for you. Also, it looks like my continent is more balance giving me an advantage over you.
stragedy101
Chieftain
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2003
- Messages
- 10
First time at GOTM, first time playing at deity (so at conquest level). I have only played at the monarch four times (and won three times).
2nd on the power bar, but too many (I think four) civilizations are ahead of me by about five techs. Japan is the most powerful, India is not doing to badly either, and and the Ottomans have about 25,000 in gold. Built a lot of temples up front, so I believe I will lose this game either by space race or diplomatic (although this may not occur since I am in either polite or gracious with the majority of the other civilizations). Of course, I still could be run over.
Finishing off the English (with the help from the French) - I only built three suicide galleys and was the first to reach the other continent, but to my surprise, they were not that far behind in techs.
A couple of questions to seasoned players - I had no problem keeping up with techs in the early stages (used the polyethism gambit) - but fell behind in the middle of the medieval era. Is this typically caused by a lack of aggressive behavior to take over other civ's cities (and key wonders) that also will, by default, reduce potential trading between other civilizations? Or is another key item is one's ability to cause other civ's to war with each other that reduces their rate of tech growth?
To those who play the open class or preditor class (and will win convincingly) - it would be interesting to watch your games and learn proper techniques in strategy - yes, I read the tutorials, but they seem to help only a little. It would be nice if there was a larger section devoted to scenario analysis.
My assessment about my play - I think at this level you have to stick to your game plan and remain focused.
Strategy101 (my name speaks for my play)
2nd on the power bar, but too many (I think four) civilizations are ahead of me by about five techs. Japan is the most powerful, India is not doing to badly either, and and the Ottomans have about 25,000 in gold. Built a lot of temples up front, so I believe I will lose this game either by space race or diplomatic (although this may not occur since I am in either polite or gracious with the majority of the other civilizations). Of course, I still could be run over.
Finishing off the English (with the help from the French) - I only built three suicide galleys and was the first to reach the other continent, but to my surprise, they were not that far behind in techs.
A couple of questions to seasoned players - I had no problem keeping up with techs in the early stages (used the polyethism gambit) - but fell behind in the middle of the medieval era. Is this typically caused by a lack of aggressive behavior to take over other civ's cities (and key wonders) that also will, by default, reduce potential trading between other civilizations? Or is another key item is one's ability to cause other civ's to war with each other that reduces their rate of tech growth?
To those who play the open class or preditor class (and will win convincingly) - it would be interesting to watch your games and learn proper techniques in strategy - yes, I read the tutorials, but they seem to help only a little. It would be nice if there was a larger section devoted to scenario analysis.
My assessment about my play - I think at this level you have to stick to your game plan and remain focused.
Strategy101 (my name speaks for my play)
Qitai
.
Just my opinion. I don't think aggressive behaviour is what helps to catch up on tech in the middle age. The following are ways to catch up in tech (some applies in general, not just in MA)
1) Cross-continent middleman trading (using the fact that you are considered having a monopoly when techs are only known to one continent.
2) gold stockpile (or gpt deals) and buy from tech leader sell to other AI as and when they are available at a reasonable price or when there are enough secondary buyers. The gpt deals require you to ensure that you have good reputation. One common "accidental bad reputation" is to trade luxury away on shaky routes which did eventually get cut off for some reason or the other. This method, however, has the negative effect of speeding up research for the tech leader if you fail to get the $$ back in other ways. (They spend the $$ on buildings speeding up more research)
3) 40-turn gambit
4) Research techs that AI rarely research (not necessary 40Turn) and trade it away at monopoly prices. An example in MA would be Printing Press.
There maybe more, others might want to add to the list.
But the MOST Important I think is to build a GOOD economy. Check your ranking in GNP/productivity using the F11 screen. These are good indicators on how you compare to the AI in terms of research/$$ capabilities. Remeber, your research is 67% (or 1/0.6) more expensive than AI in Deity. If you can't even beat them in raw output, you know you are in a mess!
Diablo2 seems to be down. Time to post this pretty picture.
I was sneak attacked by Shaka, seeing how I'm the most weak and backwards civ on the continent. Fortunately, I had a few friends to help me out. This is everyone else on the continent - Brennus had previously been relieved.
I was able to fend off the initial invaders and have no further conflict with Zulu forces, except to liberate a French town and initiate my GA with Conquistadors.
I may not win, but this was a minor victory for me.
I was sneak attacked by Shaka, seeing how I'm the most weak and backwards civ on the continent. Fortunately, I had a few friends to help me out. This is everyone else on the continent - Brennus had previously been relieved.
I was able to fend off the initial invaders and have no further conflict with Zulu forces, except to liberate a French town and initiate my GA with Conquistadors.
I may not win, but this was a minor victory for me.
rabies
Happy Dad
Sir Pleb,
It looks like you are on your way to another great win! I can't wait to see how you will take out the 'New World'. The iroqoius in particular look like they will give you a hard time..
It looks like you are on your way to another great win! I can't wait to see how you will take out the 'New World'. The iroqoius in particular look like they will give you a hard time..
SirPleb
Shaken, not stirred.
Yes, I did. At a guess they had perhaps 8 to 10 Gallic Swordsmen. They had more Medieval Infantry than Gallic Swordsmen, I don't know if they built these or used the free upgrade from Gallic Swordsmen.
It sure is interesting how differently the other Civs on our continent developed in different games. Very strong Zulu for some, very strong Ottomans for some, and more balanced for others. In some games AIs seem to have hooked up critical resources more quickly than others. All quite interesting.
rabies
Happy Dad
Just an open question to all who reached this point. Did you find the Spanish UU (conquistador) at all effective? Myself, i used a few to a. trigger my golden age and b. run behind the lines and snip resources....but other than that, i was apalled by their cost and general ineffectiveness in combat. Had they been substantially cheaper, I would have built more than 3 or 4 of them.
