aelf
Ashen One
The 3rd Immortal Challenge has ended. Click on the links below to read about the rounds played:
Round1: 3970BC - 2470BC
Round2: 2470BC - 0775BC
Round3: 0775BC - 0055BC
Round4: 0055BC - 0680AD
Round5: 0680AD - 1040AD
Round6: 1040AD - 1424AD
Round7: 1424AD - 1661AD (Part 1)
Round7: 1424AD - 1661AD (Part 2)
Round8: 1661AD - 1786AD
Round9: 1786AD - 1819AD
Round10: 1819AD - 1887AD
Round11: 1887AD - 1896AD
Bonus Space Race Round: 1887AD - 1928AD
You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory there is no survival.
- Winston Churchill
Though we have been met with defeat in the previous challenge, we shall come to another with the same energy and spirit as we have always had. In the words of the leader we are picking in this game, who aptly put it for us, "We shall never surrender!"
The Gathering Storm
We've learned some valuable lessons that would help us avoid a similar fate, both from our mistakes and our little successes, and with a little luck we will succeed this time. Churchill is Charismatic and Protective, a decent combination that shouldn't make our task too difficult. The first trait gives us +1 happiness for absolutely nothing, and on this level, where the happiness cap begins at 3, that is significant. And we get another +1 when we build a monument, a cheap building that is available early. Monuments do obsolete with Calendar, but that tech would also mean we get access to new happiness resources that would make up for it. As a delicious icing on the cake, there is also a discount of 25% in experience points required for our units to level up, something that would be of great utility when we are called upon to take arms. Protective, meanwhile, while not a superior trait on its own, has some synergy with the former. Archery units start with free Drill I and City Garrison I promotions, so combined with the xp discount from Charismatic our archery units will be able to advance up these promotional paths quickly. The most tangible practical application of this is acquiring highly-promoted Drill crossbowmen that will be upgraded to Redcoats. Gunpowder units also get the free promotions. Although they don't get access to subsequent levels of Drill, free Drill I is nothing to laugh at and City Garrison I would be of help even on the offensive by helping us hold on to captured cities. The cheaper city walls and castles are usually negligible, but who can say that they will not play a part?
The English UU, although not as powerful as its vanilla incarnation, will probably be useful. A rifleman with 25% bonus against gunpowder units, they have little to fear from enemy riflemen and even grenadiers, giving them the ability to dominate the battlefield in their era (in which it's still early enough to fight wars with relatively less risk on Immortal). You can read more about them here. The Stock Exchange (England's UB) isn't very impressive, but it will be helpful in the likely case that we have to compete economically rather than militarily with our remaining rivals in the last leg of the game.
Fishing and Mining as starting techs are not the worst we can get. The former is traditionally considered as the least useful, since you don't always get a coastal start. But apart from the fact that it can be great if we do get a coastal start, it leads to Pottery, which is universally hailed as an important early game tech. Mining, meanwhile, is a good asset. It's a prerequisite of Bronze Working and it allows us to build mines, which may mean a very early gold mine should we be blessed with that resource in our capital's fat cross.
As always, we will adhere to the tradition of the Emperor/Immortal Challenge series in demonstrating skill. As we have just learned bitterly, Immortal is not a walk in the park. We don't have a specific strategy this time, but to get elite Drill IV Redcoats, it might do us well to grab Metal Casting with the Oracle and try to get Machinery asap to build crossbows. As for the economy, I'd lean towards a conventional cottage economy, though we will probably want to set a GP farm up as quickly as possible.
The Rules
Anyone and everyone can give their opinion and advice regarding the game at end of every round, including making recommendations or commenting on previous moves. Spoilers, though, are against the rules. Please keep the discussion constructive (i.e. no flaming/trolling).
At the start of every round, I will decide which advice is most suitable and apply or adapt it while playing. If I feel that there is not enough advice to base decisions on, I will (usually) ask and wait for more. Non-Immortal players can also offer their advice. I've seen a lot of good ideas from players who play below this difficulty, and if you're a Deity player you could perhaps enlighten us.
The Settings
The game will be on standard settings (i.e. continents, 7 players, everything on default) and Epic speed. We are switching back to Epic to help us fight the necessary wars of expansion without falling too far behind like in the previous game.
And, finally, the game itself...
Our start:
A decent start with more than enough food and fresh water. And it's coastal, which is very apt considering the civ we're playing Too bad we start with Fishing, since there's no seafood, instead of Agriculture. The first tech we will research seems quite obvious, given the circumstances.
There is a hut very near us, but I reckon we should wait for our border to pop it. Moving the warrior NE is the best starting move I can think of, and we should probably just settle in place.
Storm clouds are gathering over our continent, but whose lightning will it be?
Round1: 3970BC - 2470BC
Round2: 2470BC - 0775BC
Round3: 0775BC - 0055BC
Round4: 0055BC - 0680AD
Round5: 0680AD - 1040AD
Round6: 1040AD - 1424AD
Round7: 1424AD - 1661AD (Part 1)
Round7: 1424AD - 1661AD (Part 2)
Round8: 1661AD - 1786AD
Round9: 1786AD - 1819AD
Round10: 1819AD - 1887AD
Round11: 1887AD - 1896AD
Bonus Space Race Round: 1887AD - 1928AD
You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory there is no survival.
- Winston Churchill
Though we have been met with defeat in the previous challenge, we shall come to another with the same energy and spirit as we have always had. In the words of the leader we are picking in this game, who aptly put it for us, "We shall never surrender!"
The Gathering Storm
We've learned some valuable lessons that would help us avoid a similar fate, both from our mistakes and our little successes, and with a little luck we will succeed this time. Churchill is Charismatic and Protective, a decent combination that shouldn't make our task too difficult. The first trait gives us +1 happiness for absolutely nothing, and on this level, where the happiness cap begins at 3, that is significant. And we get another +1 when we build a monument, a cheap building that is available early. Monuments do obsolete with Calendar, but that tech would also mean we get access to new happiness resources that would make up for it. As a delicious icing on the cake, there is also a discount of 25% in experience points required for our units to level up, something that would be of great utility when we are called upon to take arms. Protective, meanwhile, while not a superior trait on its own, has some synergy with the former. Archery units start with free Drill I and City Garrison I promotions, so combined with the xp discount from Charismatic our archery units will be able to advance up these promotional paths quickly. The most tangible practical application of this is acquiring highly-promoted Drill crossbowmen that will be upgraded to Redcoats. Gunpowder units also get the free promotions. Although they don't get access to subsequent levels of Drill, free Drill I is nothing to laugh at and City Garrison I would be of help even on the offensive by helping us hold on to captured cities. The cheaper city walls and castles are usually negligible, but who can say that they will not play a part?
The English UU, although not as powerful as its vanilla incarnation, will probably be useful. A rifleman with 25% bonus against gunpowder units, they have little to fear from enemy riflemen and even grenadiers, giving them the ability to dominate the battlefield in their era (in which it's still early enough to fight wars with relatively less risk on Immortal). You can read more about them here. The Stock Exchange (England's UB) isn't very impressive, but it will be helpful in the likely case that we have to compete economically rather than militarily with our remaining rivals in the last leg of the game.
Fishing and Mining as starting techs are not the worst we can get. The former is traditionally considered as the least useful, since you don't always get a coastal start. But apart from the fact that it can be great if we do get a coastal start, it leads to Pottery, which is universally hailed as an important early game tech. Mining, meanwhile, is a good asset. It's a prerequisite of Bronze Working and it allows us to build mines, which may mean a very early gold mine should we be blessed with that resource in our capital's fat cross.
As always, we will adhere to the tradition of the Emperor/Immortal Challenge series in demonstrating skill. As we have just learned bitterly, Immortal is not a walk in the park. We don't have a specific strategy this time, but to get elite Drill IV Redcoats, it might do us well to grab Metal Casting with the Oracle and try to get Machinery asap to build crossbows. As for the economy, I'd lean towards a conventional cottage economy, though we will probably want to set a GP farm up as quickly as possible.
The Rules
Anyone and everyone can give their opinion and advice regarding the game at end of every round, including making recommendations or commenting on previous moves. Spoilers, though, are against the rules. Please keep the discussion constructive (i.e. no flaming/trolling).
At the start of every round, I will decide which advice is most suitable and apply or adapt it while playing. If I feel that there is not enough advice to base decisions on, I will (usually) ask and wait for more. Non-Immortal players can also offer their advice. I've seen a lot of good ideas from players who play below this difficulty, and if you're a Deity player you could perhaps enlighten us.
The Settings
The game will be on standard settings (i.e. continents, 7 players, everything on default) and Epic speed. We are switching back to Epic to help us fight the necessary wars of expansion without falling too far behind like in the previous game.
And, finally, the game itself...
Our start:
A decent start with more than enough food and fresh water. And it's coastal, which is very apt considering the civ we're playing Too bad we start with Fishing, since there's no seafood, instead of Agriculture. The first tech we will research seems quite obvious, given the circumstances.
There is a hut very near us, but I reckon we should wait for our border to pop it. Moving the warrior NE is the best starting move I can think of, and we should probably just settle in place.
Storm clouds are gathering over our continent, but whose lightning will it be?