The Deity Challenge Lineup - Game # 3 - Persia

[Tiberiu]

After reading this thread and seeing bobby's playthrough video, I decided to try this out just to see how different my game would evolve and how all civilizations in the game would fare. It seemed like a very entertaining game, and it sure is! Not yet finished the game, but here's my report until now:

Spoiler :

I settled near the mountain in order to get Uluru. The early game was pretty good, with no major setbacks, obviously because of Uluru, but also because Japan provided me with a lot of workers . I managed to get a few CS allies and this helped my game. Japan was my main concern, but I was able to eventually cripple him, with him giving me his resources to end the war.

After that, I played a peaceful game, concentrating on growth and building what wonders I can, while my neighbours fought between themselves. Carthage managed to take the Ottoman capital, while Samarkand delivered the eliminating blow to Suleiman. This was very helpful to me, because I took a lot of loans from him and was spared of the need to pay them. Meeting Polynesia early because of their UA turned out to be very beneficial to me, as we did a lot of trading and I took out many loans.

I got greedy and sacrificed science in order to try to build wonders. Before the Renaissance, I managed Temple of Artemis, Hanging Gardens, Hagia Sophia, Petra, Oracle and Machu Picchu. Alhambra was available for enough time but I was too afraid to risk it but it turned out that there was enough time for it. It's one of the wonders that I never managed to build on Diety. The same story with Angkor Wat. My decisions in the Reinaissance were questionable to say the least, and I started to get sloppy. After building Sistince Chapel, Forbidden Palace and Taj Mahal, I failed Uffizi just as I took Aesthetics, then failed Globe Theatre at 1-turn, then failed Porcelain Tower. Around this time, Japan decided to attack me with Samurai and Pikemen, and I was hoping to repel him quickly, to continue my routine, but he managed to create some problems after stealing valuable land from my capital with 2 citadels.

Now it's turn 184 and a World War is raging - everybody is fighting with everybody. No prizes received for guessing who sponsored the start of it
Thankfully, I have 13 CS allies secured, and Voluntary Army is coming soon, plus I have strong chances to build Brandenburg Gate in order to get some strong Battleships later.
I have a diplomatic victory in mind, with cultural just as likely since World Fair and Historical Landmarks are now proposed and Cultural Heritage is already passed.

 

[Tiberiu]

Finished! Diplo victory T257.

Spoiler :

This was a fun game, where France managed to become the strong AI on the other continent. He is usually weak in my games due to poor UA compared to other civs, so it was interesting seeing how he behaves when he gets strong. To his credit, he lost having the highest score, a sort of consolation prize.

Japan managed to temporarily recover from my crippling of him and even became the Soldiers leader at one point, with 375.000 value, and because he also stole my land, I decided to take his capital to take back my land. Got 2 wonders as a bonus from that. Poland, Ottomans, and Polynesia were eliminated. Carthage failed to become relevant due to me controlling all CS, which kept killing their army when we went at war.

Policies: Tradition 6, Patronage 5, Aesthetics 6, Exploration 4, Rationalism 4, Commerce 1, Freedom 8
Wonders: 18 built, 2 conquered.

 

[beetle]

Thanks @Tiberiu for bumping this thread! I was inspired to try it again. I did not thrive, but I was happy to get a T361 SV so a pretty typical game for me over all. Which was fine since I had so much trouble those few years ago! I did four-city Tradition, managing my defense against the psycho to the East. The the other AIs on the starting continent left me alone. I was fifth to Ideologies but first to Freedom. After SOL and the FLeas, I switched to Autocracy which had passed as WI. I did Cult of Personality first, but after Clauswitz I started clearing the continent, but that was just all for fun since I had been playing/planning for SV from the start.