Okay, this is one easy possible way to beat 'Single-tile Challenge'.
I've surprised that nobody tried to do this)
For win we need to set the most convenient map options, of course.
Handicap: Deity
Speed: obviously Quick. We are limited with production and science, and it will make everything 50% cheaper.
Size: Duel. Again, all techs 50% cheaper comparing with Huge, and it is just one advantage.
Map: I've chosen Donut. It is convenient map as there is an empty space right in center, but I believe it is doable on any singlemass map as well, like Pangea or Lakes.
Center region: I've set as 'Hills', to increase chance of getting some resource in 3rd or 4st ring, but again it can be anything tbh.
Opponents: This is the key. 17 opponents. Yes, you're right: 17 opponents on the duel map. This actually guarantees that every AI starts with one city, and will have one city until it crush somebody.
As deity AI have a lot of units at start and have huge discounts on building units - it will be really hard for anybody to kill somebody, so basically most AI will stick to one city until end of the game.
So, now it is a game 'One tile human VS one city AIs'.
For an opponents after the first, unsuccessful attempt, I've decided to leave out all creative civs. So, the idea was to take Mansa Musa, Gandhi and 15 warmongers ( though, I've done miss click and took 2nd Gilgamesh instead of Gandhi and noticed it too late...). Probably personalities of AI are not so important, but, again, beware of creative cultural civs. I will explain why little later.
Options: One-city challenge. All others could be set to default.
Now we even have an advantage: we can build 5 national wonders, and AIs - only 2. Also we can build some wonders that AI can't. The main example, of course, is an Oxford University. But there are some others, like Globus Theatre ( though it is useless for us as we don't have food).
And after we recon that we don't need to build any units ( as our location is 100% safe until rockets ) and we don't need to learn any techs that related with tiles ( like Agriculture or Fishing ) or with war - and we are starting to understand that our affairs are not so bad after all!
Leader: as main source of our both production, science, money and food, okay, everything, would be settled great people - obviously PHI is the main trait. Second best probably would be IND, but there are no IND/PHI leaders. So, I've taken PHI/CRE Pericles. Slightly faster library and a little bit more culture.
Screenshot from the T2:
For the start obviously we need to go for Writing and Literature, to build Library and The Great Library. TGL is the key wonder obviously - the fabulous source of Great Scientists. And each GS give us +1
and +6
( later +9 ) , that after all multipliers later transform into more than 20
. And that's why I've chosen marble for start tile.
So, techs were Mysticism -> Polytheism ( there I've started to build Artemis with very slow speed as 8
/ turn = (3 from tile + 1 from citizen) * 2 )).
Then Masonry -> Monotheism, founded Judaism at 2500BC. Immediate switch to Org religion as this is extra hammer, so it pays itself in 8 turns.
Then Priesthood -> Writing. After getting Writing at 1780BC starting to actively trade with AIs that have Alphabet ( most of them have it already ). Key is to get Sailing for trade routes.
1420BC - finished Artemis, and started to get GPP. Because of PHI we now getting 10GPP/turn, so first GP was Prophet - in 1120BC, second - Merchant. Settled both in city for production and food. Actually I've settled almost all
great persons, except may be 5 or 6.
After Artemis we build library of course, and now we getting science gpps and a little more beakers.
Then we slowly learning Aesthetics and Literature ( for Aesthetics we of course trade some techs like Alphabet or Monarchy)
840BC - Aesthetics
520BC - Literature ( building The Great Library ). If somebody is wondering how we were first at TGL - don't forget that all AIs have one city too. They aren't as fast as usual.
Learning Metal Casting ( for Forge).
Screen on the city after we built The Great Library at 120AD:
Yes, we are not leading in techs, but we have solid +31
and +17
.
Deity AIs all have one city, so they are not too far away:
The next important building for our Settled-Great People-Economy is obviously National Epic.
Then we researched Civil Service ( for Bureaucracy and +50% hammers).
At this stage we are getting Great Peoples every 7 or something turns - now they are mostly GS, and we spend the first one on Academy, settling the others.
Then we researched Paper and Education - I have to spent one GS to bulb an Education and got it at 940AD. This is all for Liberalism race.
After that we of course immediately building University and Oxford. And learning Phylosophy at the same time - for Pacifism.
We are not so slow on building something now as one might think. Every settled scientist give us +1
, every prophet - +2
and we have +100% multiplier ( +50% from bureaucracy, +25% from forge and +25% from OrgRel).
After building an Oxford at T123 we have solid +142
and it allowed us even to be first on Liberalism:
For Liberalism I've got an Astronomy, and then beeline to Economics - unexpectedly was first there as well.
After that the main goal was to avoid Scientific Method as long as possible - as it expires TGL, Artemis and Monastery.
And at the same time to get all techs that are needed for Paratroopers.
So, I've learned Assembly Line even before Scientific Method.
Maximum science for that stage was +435
at T191, and most of it were from settled great people indeed:
Of course at that time somebody else already got a GS from Physics. But at least I could trade Scientific Method on Steam Power and not learn it myself.
In the meantime difference between two AIs at last become so big that somebody managed to kill somebody: Saladin killed Genghis Khan and became the first player with 2 cities.
And... at T219 ... drum rolls:
We are starting to build paratroopers. We could start this 3 turns earlier, but I've decided to finish Pentagon first. Having an extra promotion would be helpful.
We have 25
, that with multiplier 100% will give us 50 and allows us to build a paratrooper every 2 turns.
As I was first to Fascism, I've used Great General to create a Great Medic from the first Paratrooper and it allowed to build Heroic Epic as well. Now we can build paratroopers almost every turn.
After we got 4 paratroopers we have chosen the first victim. It was obviously Napoleon ( north-east to my city) - the last AI on the scoreboard. He has only 9 longbows - far away in ... everything. He has coal - that will be useful for my Iron Works and I can build Mining Inc. at last. But what is even most important that he has just 4 tiles, struggling in cultural wars. The thing is that AI only agrees to become a vassal for a civilization that has 2 times more tiles. This is how I've lost my first attempt on this challenge - Wilhelm took all my peaks by culture and I haven't manage to get a single vassal even beating AI to death. And without a vassal you can't beat any AI that managed to get an infantry - paratroopers just aren't enough, you need airlift an artillery or oil for bombers.
( And that's why for this attempt I've chosen no creative civilizations for AI ).
Anyway, we beat Napoleon until he agreed to become our vassal - it was at T233. What was really unexpected, that immediately after that, just in 2 turns - 8 AIs declared war on us! I don't know how this happened, may be it was chain reaction of 'bribe-into-war', or may be they all hated Napoleon, or may be they all hated me and at last found the way to harm me by killing my vassal - but facts are facts, somehow I turned out to be in war with half of the civs left. I've started immediately to gift to Napoleon techs until he was able to build an infantry, and had to seat with my paratroopers in Paris until every AI went there and made an attempt to take Paris. Of course, their attacks weren't coordinated, and that's why we won all this battles without losses worth mentioning. It took probably around 20 turns.
After that Napoleon restored control on his Coal mine, gave Coal to me, and Iron Works became useful at last. And we founded Mining Inc. with recently born GE. Now we can build every unit in 1 turn, even modern armor.
Then, somewhere around T255 we jumped with paratroopers to Mansa and made him our vassal as he had only riflemen at the moment.
Paratroopers are obviously op at this map as with one jump they can go into your capital, and with another jump they can go anywhere. So, they can go to any AI from any vassal in 2 turns even if you've have closed borders or in war with everybody.
At the same time I've built around 10 artilleries and airlifted all of them into Paris.
And with artillery support paratroopers of course can beat an even infantry.
The key thing is that as most AIs also have just one city now, they can't build more than one unit per turn. You are building one unit per turn as well. And that's how deity AI doesn't have more units than you.
The latter is obvious. I just conquered the current weakest opponent at the moment one by one, making him my vassal if possible. If not - allowed my vassals to take his city to make them stronger.
Coordinated vassals techs, got from them resources to make max from Mining Inc.
Learned Computers and built the Internet.
After getting an oil and building 8 bombers - no more losses of artillery and no need in it as well.
It took 50 turns from that moment to conquer enough civs to get a domination victory.
The only thing that could stop me, of course were the nuclear missiles. I always checked that current victim can not build them before declaring a war ( that's why Boudica left untouched). And later we all voted for nuclear embargo.
The winning screen:
5 vassals, Gilgamesh managed to beat 2 AIs and get 3 cities, but he was too slow on conquering comparing with my speed. Mansa and Napoleon as loyal servants got 3 cities each.
Athens grown to 12 because earlier I've founded Cereal Mills and got +15
from it.
