The Divine Request – Deity Walkthrough

[JBossch]

Great game so far Rusten.

Your city locations have made me realize (again) that I am too picky about founding only the perfect cities, resulting in my plans falling apart when the AI grabs a spot that messes up my scheme. You have turned cities that, at first glance, look a bit marginal to me, into really functional spots.

As for buildings, I notice that forges are nearly everywhere. They are a good building, no doubt, but it appears you are building them far more than I usually do and before other things I would prioritize. Are you mainly building them early to leverage the increased whipping from the sacrificial alters? With a different civ would you put them off longer in some cases or do the same thing? I used to always tend toward forges ASAP because I figured they got everything else done faster, but then I decided it wasn't worth postponing certain things.

A typical plan on immortal regarding great scientists would be make academy, tech to CS, bulb philo, research paper, bulb half of education, bulb most of lib researching it to one turn left, then bulb most of PP, bulb half of chemistry self researching the rest, take steel with lib. This is 6 GSS and especially with a good food city (the fishes come to mind but GL will probably be chopped in capital) , GL, NE and pacificm this can be done really quickly.Prerequisites for this plan like machinery, engineering, gunpowder can often be obtained in trade, on deity even easier than on immortal.

Interesting you mention this because I was considering writing an article about using a generational advantage in siege for warmongering, particularly taking steel with lib for cannons. The main difference between our strategies is that I always hold off on machinery until after I can bulb some of lib, whereas you go through PP. (Rusten was talking about not bulbing lib because of an early trade for machinery, so I will assume he is thinking along my lines. Also, what about gunpowder and compass? Self-research?) After thinking about it, though, I don't know which is better and haven't had time to thoroughly test the difference. Your way does allow a chem bulb which I usually self-research with the help of a GA. It was enough to make me hold up posting the article anyway. I wonder what both of your thoughts are on this. (Sorry if this is a bit off-topic. Hopefully Rusten will change his mind to going for steel with Lib and I can feel relevant. )

 

[Rusten]

Great game so far Rusten.

As for buildings, I notice that forges are nearly everywhere. They are a good building, no doubt, but it appears you are building them far more than I usually do and before other things I would prioritize. Are you mainly building them early to leverage the increased whipping from the sacrificial alters? With a different civ would you put them off longer in some cases or do the same thing? I used to always tend toward forges ASAP because I figured they got everything else done faster, but then I decided it wasn't worth postponing certain things.

Good question&observation. No, I don't usually mass forges like I do this game, but it's better than usual because;

- I have gold and I'm trading for gems--that means 2 happy faces from the building.
- I missed the philosophy lightbulb and thus won't be running pacifism. I'm running OR instead meaning I can focus a lot on infrastructure, I'll have time for both forges and other requires buildings before going to war.

With those two things in mind I'd get many forges with any civ.

Hopefully Rusten will change his mind to going for steel with Lib and I can feel relevant. )

Not going to aim for that. For starters it's very risky on deity with Pacal nearby. Secondly I don't have contact with every civ which means I can't know how long to hold it off beyond normal times. Furthermore I have marble and didn't construct the Pyramids which means Nationalism opens up a lot of things I want (Taj Mahal, Constitution, drafting and MT).

 

[Cabledawg]

Dont forget to have some money available for when you meet the others on the other continent. Give them 20 gold upon first contact and you get a +4 modifier for fair trade, then they will open borders. You also wont be their worst enemy and you can attack them on your terms.

 

[Hereditary Rule]

[Rusten, Aztec God]

[Me]


All I can say is incredible play - at Deity no less. Diplomatically, you seem untouchable right now. Great writeups as usual.

 

[Rusten]

Start teching Gunpowder. I’m going to try to trade for the earlier techs when possible to save time overall. Gunpowder is reachable via Guilds as well thus I can trade it with Pacal and Peter without giving them Education.

I thought it was strange being only pleased with Peter at the point I stopped last time; it seems I was jumping back and forth between pleased and friendly. Without ending the turn he got bumped to friendly after I whipped 2 cities, I guess he loves the whip as well.

Turn 126 / 275 AD
Hammurabi has teched Feudalism—I decide to trade for it although it will give me some temporary diplomacy hits (-1 with Peter). It will pass away over time though, and as long as I have Peter in bureaucracy he’ll be friendly regardless.
- Receive Feudalism+world map+40 gold and give Machinery+CoL.

Turn 127 / 300 AD
- Finish the UoS in Tenochtitlan.

Turn 128 / 325 AD
As advised I get ready to pillage my iron tile (next turn) to enable jaguars. Thanks for the heads up, I would’ve forgotten about that option otherwise. I whipped an aqueduct for overflow to make them quickly; I want to be working that iron tile for production.

Turn 129 / 350 AD
- Gunpowder+Paper to Pacal and receive Guilds+Drama+90 gold. I decide to self-research Philosophy.

Turn 130 / 375 AD
Spawn a GS in Tenochtitlan—I put him to sleep for now as I don’t want to lightbulb Printing Press at this time.

Turn 133 / 450 AD
Got 3 jaguars idling and re-mine the iron tile.

Turn 135 / 500 AD
Some more good stuff from Gunpowder (to Peter); I receive Engineering and 25 gold. ETA 4 on liberalism.

Turn 137 / 540 AD
I get started on the GT in Tlatelolco (fish, horse and rice). I've lost the northern gold to Maya culture despite prioritising culture buildings.

Turn 139 / 580 AD
Finished Liberalism and picked up Nationalism. I get started on the Taj Mahal in Tenochtitlan.

Turn 140 / 600 AD
I somehow spawn a GE in Tenochtitlan. It must’ve been like a 4% chance, I was only running an Engineer specialist for 1-3 turns way earlier. To be honest I would’ve much rather gotten a GS at this stage of the game, but at least it was no GA.

Turn 141 / 620 AD
I have monopoly on Nationalism but I decide to trade it anyway after I by coincedence find out Pacal and Peter are researching it already. Peter wanted Education on top for an offer already good for him and Pacal wanted extra gold/refused Banking.

The ending deal;

- Nationalism to Peter for Banking and 10 gold.
- Nationalism+50 gold to Pacal for HBR.

As a result Pacal gets 130 gold on his hands. I beg for 60—and get it. Banking opens up Economics for the free GM.

Shortly after Pacal and Peter adopt mercantilism so I’m forced to as well despite not having representation yet.

Turn 146 / 720 AD
An Ethiopian caravel arrives on the eastern shore of our continent and déjà vu, he’s being a sissy this game as well (vassal of Gilgamesh--last time it was Egypt).

Fortunately they’re not too advanced, still lagging behind the Hindu club. I didn't gift 20 gold upon contact. Not sure whether I forgot or decided it was cheesy/exploitive.

Turn 147 / 740 AD
Pacal has researched MT and Peter Printing Press, I should try to grab those techs in a deal somehow (part-research).

Turn 148 / 760 AD
Zara asks for Nationalism on the IBT -> refuse.

Complete the Taj Mahal and start on Oxford’s University. I usually delay this national wonder until after the renaissance war, but this game has been a little different, I decided to whip universities due to running OR all the time.

I have started slowly getting some more units (trebs and elephants), but no real attacking plan as of yet. Currently 4 turns left on the GT, so it will be up in time for drafting.

Sign a defensive pact with Peter, not sure why, but I guess it can’t hurt.

Turn 150 / 800 AD
Pacal pops a GP and gets the Hindu shrine! Peter gets the Kong Miao on the same turn.

Turn 151 / 820 AD
Education to Pacal for Printing Press and 150 gold.

Turn 152 / 840 AD
Education and 100 gold to Peter for MT. Pacal and Peter had been trading the two techs between themselves 2 turns ago.

I spawn another GE in Tenochtitlan—bah! How come they always pop up when you don’t want/need them and never pop up when you try to get one? I want GSs you silly civ engine. Both GEs must’ve been at less than 5% odds. Goodbye lightbulbs, this is going to slow down Biology later on.

Peter is in WHEOOH-mode and is definitely attacking Hammurabi as we were friendly at the time it happened and still are.

I decided to wait until Rifling before declaring war because my science is pretty good despite my small empire. I should be able to tech Rifling quickly the coming turns. My target is going to be Pacal, he's the biggest threat on my continent and whle taking out Peter or Hammurabi might be considerably easier I want to leverage my current tech advantage and take out Pacal before it's too late. Just look at the size of his cities, he needs to be smacked as soon as possible, those riverside windmills are so good with financial.

My army will probably consist of cavalry (upgraded cuirassiers), trebs and some drafted Riflemen. I probably won't have steel, but I'll research it after rifling and upgrade my trebs when it's in. I will get a GM the next turn (Economics), so there is the option of burning him on a trade mission if necessary, but I'll try to save him for Sushi.

Another good thing about spiritual is how I can swap between Bureaucracy and Nationalism during war. That's one of the reasons I'm more likely to cottage my capital with the spiritual trait than without it. My slider will be low, so I should put up a bank in Tenochtitlan soon.

 

[DanF5771]

Argh, Pacal has the dreaded combination of SoZ and Sistine Chapel making both war and peace troublesome.

Without Sistine I had recommended going for the distracted Peter and defending your land culturally vs Pacal (Hermitage in Texoco) as Peter has some nice land close to your capital and most of all close to your globe city (why is this building a stable btw?). Moscow has Notre Dame and Angkor Wat and would make a nice Ironworks city (rushed by one of your GEs). The war could continue to aquire land in the south vs a weakened Hammurabi.

A late war vs Peter (who will probabely win his war vs Hammu) will mean facing many many highly promoted units (Cossacks) while a later war vs Pacal would mean facing more advanced but fewer and unpromoted units. Postponing war vs Pacal would also allow handling increased WW with Jails-PS-Rushmore. But his culture will be so annoying.

GPs: too bad Pacal also has ToA (this on the other conti would give very good trade mission cash)
GEs-maybe trade/research Democracy and rush part of SoL (problem no Copper)

While in a GA I usually switch to caste+paci and starve all my cities until granaries are empty to benefit from 100% GPPs.

Good luck, very interesting game!

 

[Rusten]

Argh, Pacal has the dreaded combination of SoZ and Sistine Chapel making both war and peace troublesome.

Ditto, and he has a multitude of religions, so he will reach culture quickly once he gets started.

Without Sistine I had recommended going for the distracted Peter and defending your land culturally vs Pacal (Hermitage in Texoco) as Peter has some nice land close to your capital and most of all close to your globe city (why is this building a stable btw?). Moscow has Notre Dame and Angkor Wat and would make a nice Ironworks city (rushed by one of your GEs). The war could continue to aquire land in the south vs a weakened Hammurabi.

Getting a stable as I'm planning on being in bureaucracy most of the time. I'm going to have to use the GT as a whipping HQ rather than a drafting HQ. I know this is less optimal in general, but I want to keep bureaucracy here because:
- It will keep me friendly with Peter in order to avoid a backstab when/after I declare on Pacal. I can't hold off 2 deity AIs at the same time and Pacal is very likely to have spare techs to bribe him with.
- My capital has a lot of commerce and will benefit greatly from it in hammers as well.
- Hammurabi has the AP to stop a war thus I can't be certain Peter will be unbribable.

I'm probably going to do a quick 5-turn phase of Nationhood and draft 2-3 times in every city (every turn in GT city) and then switch back to bureaucracy for diplomacy with Peter. That means that my GT city can't draft every turn so I'm going to get Cavalry there instead.

A late war vs Peter (who will probabely win his war vs Hammu) will mean facing many many highly promoted units (Cossacks) while a later war vs Pacal would mean facing more advanced but fewer and unpromoted units. Postponing war vs Pacal would also allow handling increased WW with Jails-PS-Rushmore. But his culture will be so annoying.

I don't think I'm going to declare on Peter at all. I'd rather keep him as a close friend for tech trading. However, I might use my remaining troops on a backwards Hammurabi after Pacal.

GPs: too bad Pacal also has ToA (this on the other conti would give very good trade mission cash)
GEs-maybe trade/research Democracy and rush part of SoL (problem no Copper)

While in a GA I usually switch to caste+paci and starve all my cities until granaries are empty to benefit from 100% GPPs.

I'm not a big fan of the SoL, it's somewhat overrated IMO (so many hammers >_<). I don't think I have time to research Democracy before going to war either, I really need to strike Pacal asap.

I'm using the 100% GPP bonus to finish a GP in my GT city. It's not going to be running any specialists for quite some time (whip, whip and more whip) so it's quite handy. I prefer to work tiles during GAs rather than specialists in most cases--my riverside farms now give 2 commerce!

Thanks for the input and it is indeed a very interesting/fun game.

 

[Shurdus]

Some thing I have been wondering...

How come people are so willing to trade with you? When I play on emperor, nearly no one wants to trade with me. I mean, who can withstand that grinning face of monty? Apparently they can resist mine, but with Rusten every one seems willing to trade. Is this due to a manipulation for your side, or are you just teching faster, or what? What am I missing here?

Also this is yet another great game to study, so thnx Rusten! I am also in the crowd.

 

[Rusten]

Some thing I have been wondering...

How come people are so willing to trade with you? When I play on emperor, nearly no one wants to trade with me. I mean, who can withstand that grinning face of monty? Apparently they can resist mine, but with Rusten every one seems willing to trade. Is this due to a manipulation for your side, or are you just teching faster, or what? What am I missing here?

Also this is yet another great game to study, so thnx Rusten! I am also in the crowd.

All leaders aren't as happy with the Aztec gods as the Mayans or as happy about whipping as Peter seems to be I suppose.

On a more serious note; it's because I have them at friendly. With friendly relations AIs will trade monopoly techs, you don't have to wait for a second civ (or more) to research them. A good tip would be to look at everyone's favourite civic after meeting them and plan your games accordingly. In this case I am planning a tweaked war for relations with Peter due to his favourite civic.

 

[Rusten]

Okay, time to move this along some more.

Ended turn and finished Economics and got the GM. I set research to Replaceable Parts. Decided to postpone Constitution and trade for the remaining beakers, I’d rather get Rifling a couple of turns sooner.

Turn 155 / 900 AD
Pacal completes the Spiral Minaret! Oh yea, I’m so going to grab that one. I have enough EPs on Peter to see what he’s researching, and I saw he was starting Chemistry earlier so getting the GEs aren’t as bad now—I can trade for Chemistry instead of lightbulbing as I’m friendly with Peter.

Economics+Liberalism to Peter for Chemistry, world map and 280 gold. I start whipping a lot of Cuirassiers now, I’m going to upgrade them to Cavalry later on.

Turn 157 / 940 AD – eventful turn.
Pop a GS in my GT city—finally a GP pops according to plan.

But the bigger news is that Peter declares on Hammurabi and he bribes Pacal immediately. I join in on the dogpile for relations with Peter—Hammurabi can’t reach my cities anyway.

Pacal has finished Constitution so I make another trade. I needed Theocracy too (revolt right away).

Turn 158 / 960 AD
Nationalism to Zara for Optics, world map and 120 gold. Here’s a look at the other continent—Ragnar is indeed in the game as predicted but he doesn’t seem to be much of a threat—too small. The map turned out to be a pretty standard “continents” this time.

Gilgamesh must’ve had a really good time being allowed to settle all that land peacefully. No wonder he’s the top AI atm (although not first in tech).

Here’s a look at Pacal and a battle plan below:

Chichen Itza and Calakmul are not on a hill and they’re far away from Pacal’s main core. This means that it would be very beneficial to strike these cities with mounted units without waiting for slow rifles or siege, my battle odds should be great anyway. If I were to send my main army up there the war would take an extra 10-15 turns, and that’s just too much. Quirigia on the other hand is situated on a hill, but the good thing is that it’s right next to my border, so I can bombard it with siege the turn I declare war. With that in mind my cavalry won’t have trouble claiming it.

I will send my siege and rifles through Uxmal, Lakamha and then strike onto Mutal while gathering up with the force I have initially sent north. This is the fastest way to take many cities and I want to decide the war before Pacal gets Steel or Rifling. The faster I can get cities out of revolt and get started on my economy the better.

Turn 159 / 980 AD
Zara and Pacal have Astronomy. I decide to make the deal with Zara and as he’s friendly with Gilgamesh I give techs Gilgamesh has already—in this case it was Chemistry.
- Chemistry+Economics to Zara for Astronomy and world map.

This turned out extra well as Gilgamesh demanded Economics the following turn (I accepted).
Cancel my fish deal (for gold) with Peter and re-sign it for Dye instead—I’m going to need happiness vs. the SoZ.

Turn 164 / 1040 AD
Pop another GS (Tenochtitlan)

Espionage shows Peter is almost done with Constitution—I sell it to him for his spare gold (500). It will speed up my Cuirassier -> Cavalry upgrade.
I also revolt to Representation and Nationhood this turn and start drafting. I’m still friendly with Peter despite not running bureaucracy—the war vs. Hammurabi helps but it might not be necessary.

Turn 166 / 1060 AD
Following vote pops up:

I thought about this for a long time but in the end I voted no in order to keep Peter busy. The problem is that Pacal is more likely to make a big army and research military techs, but I’ll just have to aim to be faster than him.

I declare on Pacal this very turn. Bombard Quirigua with trebs and attack with Cavalry.

On the IBT Peter revolts to Free Religion—Bah! This brings him down to pleased. He also makes the following request.

I gave it to him (back to friendly). Hopefully he won’t trade it with Pacal any time soon. I’m going to use spies to convert Peter back to Hinduism to be 100% sure I’m friendly with him at all times.

Turn 167 / 1070 AD
Capture Calakmul (218 gold). As you read from the power graph below Peter would’ve been an easier target, but it’s much more important to take out Pacal. If I were to take out Peter and Hammurabi I still couldn’t have teamed up with Pacal because he’s pursuing a culture victory. With Peter on the other hand I can stay friendly for the remainder of the game. He’s also smaller, so I should be able to outdo him in any every way.

Pacal is willing to sign peace already, but that’s mostly because he’s in two wars, not necessarily that he thinks he’s losing badly to me.

Turn 170 / 1100 AD
Pop my first GG and assign it to a Jaguar. I revolt back to Bureaucracy in addition to Free Market as Zara and Peter are not in Mercantilism.

Turn 171 / 1110 AD
Capture Chichen Itza with my mounted units.

Turn 172 / 1120 AD
Capture Uxmal with my rifles and siege. Pacal has Military Science already (and Replaceable Parts), so I have some pinch promoted Cavalry in the stack as well.

Turn 175 / 1150 AD
Finish Steel which puts me in the Industrial era.

Turn 176 / 1160 AD
AP vote pops up again (stop war vs. Hammurabi). I decide to vote yes this time as Peter is closing in on Rifling/Steel. Hammurabi seems to be doing well atm (ivory and the aggressive trait) so nobody’s taking any cities, but that might change soon. What I didn’t know was that Peter had already signed peace on the IBT, but oh well.

Capture Izancanac. Didn’t bother waiting for my siege and used Cavalry here too as it was thin on military—most units were mounted thus culture didn’t matter.

Turn 177 / 1170 AD
The AP vote fails! Doesn’t make a big different though (337 votes—needed 6 more).

Turn 178 / 1180 AD
Capture Lakamha (yummy shrine).

I put research at 0% after Steel as I don’t want to get Sci. Method yet (obsoletes UoS-powered monasteries and the GL/Parthenon) so I’m going to upgrade my trebs to cannons now before moving on.

Turn 182 / 1220 AD
Pop another GS in Tenochtitlan.

Turn 185 / 1250 AD
Capture Mutal—the war is won (Pacal has made peace with Hammurabi by now). The city holds a lot of wonders—most of them are useless at this point though.

Current tech screen:

I’ve avoided trading the military techs as Pacal would probably grab them somehow. I don’t worry too much about that now though, he doesn’t have much left. I don’t think I want to go for a domination win this time. For starters that victory condition doesn’t appeal to me anymore and secondly I’d have to take the other continent, it’s just too much hassle. With that in mind I decide to grab the SoL afterall. I said I think it’s overrated and I still stand by that, but this is the best situation for it. I have all my cities on 1 continent, and there are just 2 big landmasses so I want to deny Gilgamesh on the other continent from getting it. With these things in mind I pull the trigger on this deal and rush the SoL with my 2 GEs:

Turn 186 / 1260 AD
Sign peace with Hammurabi (gave 25 gold).

Turn 187 / 1270 AD
Democracy and Liberalism to Zara for Steam Power.

Turn 188 / 1280 AD
Steel to Zara for Military Science and 70 gold.

Turn 190 / 1300 AD
That’s a lot of busy workers!

Turn 191 / 1310 AD
Capture Oxhuitza from Pacal.

Spy tries to convert Peter, but the mission fails.

Turn 193 / 1330 AD
Spy tries to convert Peter, but the mission fails.

I decide to leave Pacal with these 3 cities. They won’t have many tiles and almost no resources so there’s no point wasting time going after them.

Turn 194 / 1340 AD
Capture Krasnoyarsk and Pacal capitulates (get Corporation in the deal).

Get in contact with Ragnar (Pacal knew him). He’s terribly backwards—I open borders for trade routes.

As you can see below Pacal is liked by the people that matter (Gilgamesh and Peter) so capitulating him was the better way to go. More importantly he is friendly with Peter, so I will still be able to trade monopoly techs and avoid WFYABTA with him.

I revolt to OR and FS. OR because I have a lot of infrastructure to get and FS because I captured a lot of towns.

Turn 196 / 1360 AD
Spy tries to convert Peter, but the mission fails.

Turn 197 / 1370 AD
Steam Power, Military Science and 110 gold to Gilgamesh for Physics.

Turn 198 / 1380 AD
Get an academy in Lakamha.

Turn 199 / 1390 AD
Get an academy in Mutal. I can’t remember the last time I made a 2nd or 3rd academy in a game, but these cities are incredible. Once Electricity is in those windmills in Mutal will pump a lot of commerce and Lakamha has a lot of towns.

Current technology screen:

I’m doing well despite having been at war for quite some time. I’m getting Medicine and Sid’s Sushi in a couple of turns (in Lakamha). I decided to stop here for now. Peter has enough on his hands again IIRC (Hammurabi for sure). I have a lot of optional paths to take here, so it's a good time to take a pause.

 

[UncleJJ]

A very good war against Pacal. All those wonders and cottages you captured has put you right back in the game. I presume Peter is the next target for your expansion. What victory types are you considering? I you found Sid'd Sushi that will give you plenty of cheap culture, along with Sistine Chapel to bring new cities under control and make them productive.

Espionage: the reason your spies are failing is because you have been seriously outspent by just about everyone (Hammurabi is 141%, Peter and Yakob both 128% ) Just having a few courthouses (Sacrifical Altars) is not enough to do anything more than maintain a neutral position. It is probably too late but to get back to neutral position, but if did want to you need to instal quite a few jails and then when you switch to Nationhood for another round of drafting, raise the EP slider (just for a few turns) and run some spies. That would allow you to at least see the curves of the various other civs.

 

[Rusten]

Don't think I want to attack Peter. He's not big enough to be a challenger but still teching well so I consider him a decent ally. I could go for a cultural victory with Sistine and Sushi, but given my large empire I think I'm going to tech for space instead--haven't done that in a while. I didn't burn a GP on a GA yet, so that's easily 16 turns of 3-5k beakers later on which makes space a very decent option. I'll probably spread Sushi quickly to the cities bordering Peter to gain control of more tiles.

Regarding EP; I only need to see Peter's curve tbh. The only other AI worth knowing anything about is Gilgamesh, and I get to know what his stats are like from the demographics. I also see myself racing ahead in the tech race, so stealing techs won't be that useful. I said before starting that this would be exciting until the end, but I might have to retract that statement because I'm in a very good position here.

 

[Shurdus]

very good game here Rusten! This answers some of the questions I had about warfare, so thank you for that!

I still have trouble in following you in some of the choices you make considering diplomacy though. I probably need to catch up on my reading on the subject (I only play Civ for a few months). Do you have interesting suggestions on what articles are most useful? Please do not go through the trouble of looking for me, but if you have a suggestion from the top of your head that would be great!

I am cheering for you as always!

Edit: opened your save. How on earth did you find the gold to upgrade that many units? Did you get a trade route for instant 900 or so gold? Also you mentioned reducing the science slider for a while. How much did this wield?

I am so amazed to see you conjuring such a respectable army out of thin air... I can hardly believe what I am seeing! Is it just whipping and drafting? How come your cities are still so large then? Amazed, that is the word that comes to mind to see this game played with such skill. A very good job indeed!

 

[Rusten]

very good game here Rusten! This answers some of the questions I had about warfare, so thank you for that!

I still have trouble in following you in some of the choices you make considering diplomacy though. I probably need to catch up on my reading on the subject (I only play Civ for a few months). Do you have interesting suggestions on what articles are most useful? Please do not go through the trouble of looking for me, but if you have a suggestion from the top of your head that would be great!

Diplomacy is just something you get the feel of after playing more games. No real reason to search for articles, just try to think of what the consequenses of each action is and compare.

Edit: opened your save. How on earth did you find the gold to upgrade that many units? Did you get a trade route for instant 900 or so gold? Also you mentioned reducing the science slider for a while. How much did this wield?

I am so amazed to see you conjuring such a respectable army out of thin air... I can hardly believe what I am seeing! Is it just whipping and drafting? How come your cities are still so large then? Amazed, that is the word that comes to mind to see this game played with such skill. A very good job indeed!

I didn't run a trade mission and I didn't set research to 0% until after Steel which was several turns after declaring. The cost of upgrading depends on the hammer cost from the previous unit to the next. Cuirassiers and cavalry aren't that differen't hammer-wise so it's quite cheap to upgrade them (same with trebs -> cannons). As mentioned in my report I sold Constitution to Peter for 500 gold and that was more than enough to upgrade most of my cuirassiers. I'm a big fan of cuirassier and cavalry warfare and very surprised I don't see it being used more often--pinch-promoted cavalry is great.

The army mostly comes from 2/3-pop whipping units. I did some drafting as well, but not very much. I guess I drafted from every regular city 2 times (except for my capital) which puts me at 4x2=8 riflemen. I also drafted 5 out of 5 turns in my GT city, so that's 13 drafted units.

The secret to quick and successful wars is to tolerate stagnating research-wise. It's usually better to focus fully on the war and end it quickly than do both at the same time. Don't be afraid of losing your tech lead and using the culture slider--a war like this is a long-term investment and it usually pays off when you get started working the claimed land. You get a lot of gold once you start taking cities too.

 

[Perugia]

One thing that puzzle's me, in the After the War screenie for turn 199 why isn't there any any culture pressure from Pacal's last 3 cities?

 

[Zanttu]

One thing that puzzle's me, in the After the War screenie for turn 199 why isn't there any any culture pressure from Pacal's last 3 cities?

Because Pacal is his vassal.

 

[schwartz]

Great game Rusten. I have a question for you.
Would a switch into free religion be a bad choice here? As it is now your new cities are still mostly Mayan (they would still revolt), so, would the extra culture from 5 religions be worth a switch, since Peter is also in FR?

 

[Rusten]

Great game Rusten. I have a question for you.
Would a switch into free religion be a bad choice here? As it is now your new cities are still mostly Mayan (they would still revolt), so, would the extra culture from 5 religions be worth a switch, since Peter is also in FR?

Sushi culture will be enough pretty soon. I'm currently in FS as well, so 100 culture per turn should be doable. But more importantly FR would cancel UoS and my recently added SM--you have to keep a state religion for them to work.

I might convert to Buddhism though (in order to control the AP).

 

[ungy]

Great game Rusten!

Haven't had a chance to look at the saves but a masterly demonstration of diplomacy:
1) planning the friendlies from the start and ignoring the WFYABTA with them while at the same time getting a few trades in with the odd man out.

2) using the spiritual trait to keep Peter at friendly to get some drafting in but avoid a potential risk to your game


I am a bit curious about your opinion on the SOL.
Normally you have copper and typically if you don't build it your most advanced opponent will.
So that's something like +10 specs for you and maybe -12 for them.
That's a pretty big swing IMHO in a space game.
Agreed it's not worth it if you're going to roll up the continent in a dom game.

Did you scout Pacal's territory for his army before deciding on the split of forces or did you just figure you'd get there fast enough anyway?--did Pacal blow his Sod against Ham?


Of course you showcased the required attention to detail and strong planning as well
thanks for the lesson(s).

 

[ungy]

A very good war against Pacal. All those wonders and cottages you captured has put you right back in the game.

Back in the game?
He was on plan basically the whole game and now has it won.