The Deity Challenge Line-up #38 - Alexander the Great

[Redaxe]

I can see the advantage to getting Hubble in that it can slow down your opponents that might be getting close to a SV.

 

[SooHongLoo]

Why would you need Sats (and Hubble) for a Diplo win? I usually tech to around Radar, then start bulbing to Ecology. I use Oxford on Telecommunications and Ratio finisher on Globalization. Works every time

This is true. You can get to Globalization very early. Heck you can win Diplo without even getting to Globalization. In my game I teched to Sats, got Hubble. Teched over to Xcoms. Had some fun with wars. Teched up to Globalization and was 6 turns away from it when I won Diplomatic.

The truth is that if you play this game long enough you can pretty much get away with all sorts of things like no army, mediocre tech rate, etc... One of the major things to accomplish is to disrupt the AI with stealing settlers and workers. Also make them fight each other and if you fear they are getting to strong, bite the bullet and bribe them to make peace.

If you play a certain way because you think you are exploiting the game too much you will have to change your tactics and play a more rigid style of game.

The point is that if you just want to win you can pretty much do whatever you want within reason. As Acken has said earlier that Diplomatic Victories are the most broken VC but heck, it is still a way to win and finish the game if you are getting bored.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Yes, you *can* win Diplo without Globalization as I've shown in Celts and Rome map where I didn't even pick Rationalism, but it's dicey.

Sometimes though, there will be fierce competition for certain city states where the AI influence can shoot up to 200s, but that seems arbitrary

 

[beetle]

This was my first sub-T300 Deity win, so I am chuffed! Thanks to everyone for their advice! Final score was 1517 raw, 2661 adjusted (Augustus Caesar).

I replayed a couple times trying to win world leader vote at T286 (by liberating Yerevan or killing Caesar) but whatever I did, I was still one or two votes short.

So following all the good advices here, reloaded quite a bit back, skipped Hubble and tech'd to Telecommunications and used Ratty finisher for Globalization -- and I got the Ratty finisher by using GE (previously earmarked for Hubble) on Sydney. Everything came together quite nicely! As Freedom trade routes had been online for a while, 250 gold for get the last CS. I didn’t have NIA online since I got the labs in a timely fashion this time through.

Final vote was 45 for the 38 needed, so a bit of overkill! Also, going back more turns means I could keep Poland alive (I had previously recalled them to life (from Germany)). Since my victory screen shot otherwise looks the same as previously, this one is centered on Warsaw.

My GP management could have been much better. I spawned a Great Merchant in the middle, and a Great Writer had been saving (waiting for a Golden Age) I didn’t need because of SOH, and then I spawned another GW just before the vote.

But finishing Rationalism so late feels suboptimal because it precludes using faith to purchase GS! I had 1000 faith banked at that point, so I used it for Combustion to buff the range of the cap trade routes. What else do people do with post-Globalization GS?

 

[stormtrooper412]

Well there you go, you didn't need Globalization after all

 

[consentient]

This was my first sub-T300 Deity win, so I am chuffed!

Congratulations beetle! I'm happy for you

 

[stormtrooper412]

Spoiler :

I think by liberating Poland you secured a permanent 4 (?) votes

 

[beetle]

Yes, liberating a civ means they will give your their four votes for WL -- but of course they need to stay in the game. I guess that counts as “permanent”?

 

[stormtrooper412]

Well obviously

 

[consentient]

I guess I learn something new every day. So there is the potential for massive conquest-driven DiploV cheese where you go to war with a partner, allow them to wipe out each civ's last city, then liberate them and win the first vote with ease.

 

[stormtrooper412]

That should work, yes

 

[beetle]

Yes, given the 4 WL votes, if you can recall a civ or two -- that does make DiploV much, much easier.

So there is the potential for massive conquest-driven DiploV cheese where you go to war with a partner, allow them to wipe out each civ's last city, then liberate them and win the first vote with ease.

This does not work. You cannot recall a civ that was eliminated while you were at war with them.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Well it would if you peace out just before their last city gets captured by someone else

 

[consentient]

Actually it doesn't even matter if you were at war with them when they got conquered, I think. Provided it was not you that wiped them out.

I might test this on the next speedy-DomV-friendly DCL map.

 

[beetle]

Well it would if you peace out just before their last city gets captured by someone else

Yes, but it would be hard to sustain for more than a couple civs. I am replying the France map, and have recalled two civs so far -- but once again my conquesting is not fast enough.

Actually it doesn't even matter if you were at war with them when they got conquered, I think. Provided it was not you that wiped them out.

Actually it does matter. I have played with this myself, and it has come up on few threads, but I don't have any links or relevant save files. You simply do not get the liberate option when you take the city.

From what I can tell, CS are an exception to this rule. I have had an allied CS kill another CS -- but then many turn later had the chance to liberate the CS conquered by my (formerly) allied CS. In that case, the liberate option came up as usual.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Well two civs is more than enough if my math is good:

host = 6 votes
two liberated = 8 votes
world ideology = 2 votes

that's already 16. Provided no city states got sacked, you'd only need 12 of them to win. And that's without Globalization

 

[Mortified]

New here and have a lot to learn but figure I'll throw my experience out there anyway. Russia launched T278 so that was that. I had globalization and 11 of 16 CS's allied. It was going to take a while to get the remaining 5 CS's as allies b/c Russia had over 130 influence in all but one, and that one was 103. GPT at end was 146.

Rome forward settled to the north of Athens early (came out of nowhere) so I bribed them to attack Russia to keep them off my back. Ok in theory I suppose, but then Russia steamrolled them. I only got 3 cities settled and was always way too far behind in tech to press Russia. Fun game though. I think that's the earliest I've ever seen the AI launch against me. Russia built Hubble somewhere around T235.

 

[Redaxe]

Ok I might have a try of Greece. So can I assume that I can really match the power of ancient Greece and produce several great people, build amphitheatres, markets and temples in dozens of cities, conquer half the map and build the following wonders by turn 90?
-Statue of Zeus
-Temple of Artemis
-Great Library
-Great Lighthouse
-Colossus
-Oracle
-Parthenon
That should be our benchmark for Diety yeah?

 

[GiovDenti]

t280 DomV

This is just my second deity domination victory. It took a long time and some really mismanaged wars, but in the end...

Spoiler :

SP: Tradition Opener + Full Honor + Full Ratio + Autocracy
I wonder if it make sense to start tradition just for the 3 cpt when pursuing Honor.

Built only 1 expo before NC. A second expo after NC. All other cities were conquered.
I went straight to Machinery.

First war with Germany. Conquered Berlin.
Than conquered allied CS Wellington.
From there I started a long attrition war against Poland, spending many GG for inch by inch positioning of the front line. This was contrary to every good domination strategy but once I started that war, I had to finish it.
I've reached industrial era still strugling with Poland.
Once Warsaw fell, the rest was easy.

Than I was DoW by each and every AI. I had to regroup and defend. I lost 2 cities and fought very hard. In the end I recovered with a very experienced army and started a one by one attack.
It was fun, but took much time.
Here are some screenshots...





4th DCL! Going for my fifth. I think I will try again #37 (France)...
Let's see if I can get a deity CV on a normal map (won CV only on the Spain map, so far)...

 

[Grendeldef]

Impressive GPT in the end - a Greek Treasury holder perhaps ? It's not all that uncommon to be in the negatives but that's approaching cool budgeting.