The Immortal guide (Balance - Combined MOD)

[ezysquire]

This thread is a play through on Immortal level of difficulty using the Balance - Combined MOD. This MOD is created by Thalassicus and is an excellent attempt at correcting many of the vanilla game's flaws.
The crux of the MOD's balancing is in nerfing some of the OP units and in providing some improvements to the economic and cultural game in an attempt to allow players an empire-building focus as opposed to a predominantly militaristic one.

As well as explaining the MOD, this thread will also examine and show various strategies to help players win the game on the Immortal level of difficulty.

For this play-through, I have used Russia on a pangaea map with the time set to Epic speed.

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There are a huge number of screenshots, most with a 'spoiler', so please: Enjoy!

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The starting location here does not look that great at first glance. It is excellent to have incense around as this makes available the monastery building, but growth is more important and there are no good food sources in the immediate starting location. In Balance - Combined food resources are improved, making them more important for a city to be built near. So this settler will have to scout a little bit.

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Two ancient ruins and some food source found - the starting location is fast improving.

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Not bad

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Moscow founded and upon doing so the starting location now appears strong with two cow close, marble, incense and a river nearby.

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First city-state met.

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This is the best goodie-hut pop at the start of the game as it enables the first social policy. All early game advantages make a disproportinately big difference for the human player. On the harder levels of difficulty the early and often mid-game are about the human player catching up with and then matching the ai civs which have handicap bonuses. So the faster the human player can catch up to the ai 'head start' the better and these early social policies really help with that.

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For cultural victory in Balance - Combined, cultural victory requires six policy trees to be completed instead of the vanilla game five before the Utopia project is unlocked.
To help achieve this, a player receives a free policy at the start of each era.
Some of the early policies are also changed in the MOD, these are noted in these spoilers:

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More ruins:

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I'm starting to think this is an excellent starting position. Even the tundra can be made good use of with this vast number of deer on 'dem dar rocky plains'.

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Ruins give archery. Again a good hit from the bonus.

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Contact!

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The Russian start position is just getting better and better by the turn. The Arab territory is showing and it is very close to Moscow. On Immortal it is extremely helpful to be able to take out an opponent early. Along the same lines of what was said earlier about 'catching up to the ai because of its bonuses', having an opposing civ very close improves your ability of conquering them and seizing their capital city. This kind of gain in the early game really makes a big difference in the 'catch up'. Regardless of what victory condition you care to pursue, going to war early in the game and getting a quick conquer helps enormously.

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Getting some really good luck with the village pops here. Population bonus is again a strong result.

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Animal Husbandry discovered and what do you know? Horses in the capital! This is great for Russia with their +1 bonus on strategic resources.

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In Balance - Combined, science has received an overhaul. While the technology tree remains the same, some beaker amounts are changed and their are some subtle twists to it.
First of all, as a civ enters a new era a tech bonus is awarded. This is in 5% increments, so for example when Classical Era is entered, a civ's science production is boosted 5%, in Medieval Era is boosted 10%, and so on...
The second major difference is that methods used to obtain 'free technologies' (eg Great Library) are no longer as powerful. To qualify for free technology selection a technology now needs to be more than just unlocked. It must not be classed as 'Hard'. I will better explain this later on.

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Two horses near the capital - unbelievably good site for Moscow.

 

[ezysquire]

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Nothing like a good ol' fashioned aggressive player in the neighbourhood.

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More horses and more ruins. NICE!

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This will be useful against the horse from the north.

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Further scouting reveals another city-state - this time a maritime one.
In Balance - Combined, maritime city states do not provide as much food as in the vanilla game. For a capital city iirc it is about -33% as much.

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When scouting early on, it is important that fighting units remaing close'ish to your sphere of influence. A scout can be sent away, but warriors must remain closer. If an area of dense terrain is encountered, don't try to use warriors to scout it. Withdraw them. They can scout fine in more open areas, so use them there instead of having them slowed to a crawl in a forest or hill range.
In this game because my initial evaluation of the Russian terrain was open, I did not even bother building a scout on turn one as so many people do. Warriors are just as good as scouts at exploring plains, tundra, grassland - so invest in the fighting strength early. It will assist in taking out close neighbours too! (of course if your starting terrain is a massive forest - get a scout)

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They always help.

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Getting the full mix of city-states now.

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Quickly moving to a settler as to 'catch up' to the Immortal level ai civs more cities will be needed to produce the science and units necessary. It is also very helpful to build a second city CLOSE to the nearby civ. You will soon see why...

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Surprisingly, I was the first to find this city state.

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Figuring out exactly where to build the second city is an important step to do several turns before the settler is made. This is to allow military units the time to move appropriately so that they may protect the settler from the turn it is built to the turn it builds a city.

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Some barbarian fun never goes astray.

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The classic Civ concept of 'hook up resources as soon as you can' remains true. With so many horses around, heading for the wheel to get some early horse units in the mix is definitely a good idea. These horse units will be good for the whole game as in Balance - Combined cavalry upgrades to tank and lancers to anti-tank, instead of these units being made redundant in the late game eras.

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With horseback riding still quite a long reasearch time, masonry is the preferred option to hook up the nearby marble and get some happiness going.

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Ahhh, you look ripe for the taking.

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Always quick to pick a fight.

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Barbarian camps for gold and experience. Excellent.

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So from the earlier comment about advanced planning to have warriors positioned correctly to escort settlers from the moment they are produced: This picture shows perfectly how the warrior can be some distance from the home territory at the point of production, so long as the movement is appropriately calculated. This settler is never at risk, yet the warrior never actually stands on the same hex as it.

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These two are like infant kids fighting over the only rattle in the crib they share.

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Time to start a squabble of our own!
This diagram shows how the Arab worker can be stolen without any of the Russian units being injured. The Arab warrior is blocked by the river and the forest and the spear that will steal the worker does so on its first move, allowing its second hex to be away from Mecca and out of its range. Stealing this worker is critical as again it is part of the 'catch up' process. Stealing it means you don't have to have a city waste time building it. At Immortal level, building a worker in a city should be a rare thing.

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We will see who does the crushing.

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In terms of 'crushing', information is king during war and quite timely was this bit of info straight after the DoW. If a civ reads zero food at this early stage - it means they are building settler units. Thanks Arabia, yas we go to war you have another worker for me on the way!

Next installment: the war with Harun Al-Rashid

 

[whataboutit]

subbed

 

[Civ'ed]

subbed too

 

[ezysquire]

Hi all.

So war with Harun al-Rashid is declared pretty much at the same time as Russia's second city, St Petersburg, is built.
While the picture does not quite show it, St Petersburg is very close to the Arabs. It is always advantageous to be able to fight from your own territory and in CiV the city itself counts as a military unit which will be most useful.
Anywho, this picture really just highlights the move to masonry so that the Russians can get a happiness boost now that they are down to just two

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Onwards a couple of turns and we can see how close St Petersburg is to Mecca.
Remeber that Arab warrior? He was the one that previously could not reach my spearman when he stole the worker, who is now happily building a horse pasture.
This warrior followed and instead of engaging him in the open ground - he did the typical ai aggressive 'attack if he can' move. I took advantage of this, setting up defensively in my own territory. Winning more experience from attacking him in the open is less important than preserving hit points in these early stages.
By holding back defensively I have also brought the city's ranged attack into play.

So as the worker begins to build the horse pasture, I begin to think about the timing of my horse unit production to get a horse archer as fast as possible. Horse units are going to be what allow me to take out Mecca without having to spam build warriors which is a strategy that readily works, but is quite a short term play. There are usually warrior losses, but with some horse units, I can take Mecca with zero casualties.

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Six turns to build a pasture - what can I build in Moscow that takes about this length of time?
Perfect! A warrior to buff my army a bit.

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I don't think so Harun...

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Okay, so analysing terrain that makes up the field of battle is really really really important!
In this case it is clear that the hill from which I moved the spearman to steal the worker is the key tile. It is a strong defensive tile that is out of reach of Mecca's ranged attack and it gives a commanding view of Arabia.
Holding it at all times is key.

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With the spearman healed, I am now able to create a military sphere of influence beyond my border to meet head on Arabia's territorial sphere of influence.
My aim here is to simply block the western passage of all his units and remain AWARE of everything Harun is up to.

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Inexplicably, Harun thinks it's a good idea to move a settler west... Here comes that free worker I talked about at around turn 37!

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Ok, so this is the clutch turn for seizing the settler and earning myself a worker.
Many players would simply attack - but I prefer to reposition to create a more favourable combat situation that enables me to retain more hitpoints. So I move to the western hill at the river junction with the spear and hold my ground with the warrior.

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This leaves the settler with three westward moving choices: which would you choose?

Meanwhile, back at home, the pasture finishes, allowing me production of the chariot archers...

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And the warrior finishes too! same turn! - on to the chariots!

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Back to the battle for the settler, and you can see Harun elected to cross the river and move away from St Petersburg. What he has done is moved into a flanked position, giving the Russian units some bonuses. Note how attacking over the river is nullified by the flanking bonus:

battle ensues:

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While rushing to horseback riding is well considered as a great strategy in CiV, it seems so appropriate in this game with the Russians living in this vast plain with loads of horse resources.
Despite it being a 'hard' technology, it's definitely worth pursuing. Getting to Classical era as soon as possible is also key in Immortal as the era bonuses of improved science and a free social policy in Balance - Combined, really help speed things up.

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So while the injured warrior and spearman heal in my territory (easy to do since St Petersburg is so close to Mecca), the new warrior, recruited while I was waiting for the horse pasture to be built, is able to take position on that all important hill. Meanwhile the workers can start to get busy improving my happiness and with pastures.

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Seems Harun is starting to feel the pinch of war with Catherine. He offers everything he has. Importantly this diplomacy is an opportunity to check how well the war is going and to make sure that the rival is under control. No cities outside Mecca = Arabia is stuffed.

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[ezysquire]

So to recap on the basic strategy in conquering Harun al-Rashid with minimum loss and as fast as possible, the plan is to secure the area around his territorial sphere of influence with my military surround. As soon as chariot archers from Moscow are built, these will rush to the south of Mecca to bombard it.

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UNbelievably Harun does it again... Of course it is believable owing to ai stupidity

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This time it's even easier.

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This repeated play shows the benefits in being patient and holding spheres of influence. There is no way this many workers could be built in your own cities this fast! 2550BC

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With war going on, I am happy with the number of units I have and to have my first chariot archer on the field.
Liberty was selected as the first social policy, so it is important that I continue to build settlers early, and so this is the next choice to back up the chariot.

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A useful distraction - possibly another worker up for grabs.

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Building the monument in St Petersburg is paying dividends now as the SP cost in turns has dropped dramatically. It was 17 turns, one turn later there are just FIVE to go. This makes for great timing with the settler being built in Moscow. I will be able to get another policy before that settler founds a city. Start production on a settler in St Petersburg now. Building several cities early on to secure in forward positions that are in good defensive positions is important.

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The siege of Mecca begins.

Harun knows his number is up...

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The Mongol sphere of influence is approaching and so I am obliged to make the next city in that direction to secure land that is plentiful for resources. There is also the consideration of monopolising the incense. This is critical for mid-game trading, so building the next city to the North-West of Moscow is a must.

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The noose tightens.

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Just in time to take effect in city#3.

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And all bow before the mighty Catherine.

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Horseback riding was very well timed. Its enabling of the stable building is perfect for Moscow. Stables are improved in Balance - Combined MOD.
The bonus for Moscow on horse pasture tiles is incredible. Stacking together stable building, unique ability bonus and the pasture bonus itself yields per horse tile 4
Couple this with 2 for the grassland and the 1 given by the stable, and horse on grassland tiles become sickeningly good. Moscow here even has TWO of these tiles!

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The siege wages on. There is no need to be hasty. Maintain control of the territory and use the unit promotion of 'full heal' when necessary.

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Settler finishes in St Petersburg and with another settler on the way, happiness is about to take a hit. Better start on the circus.

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VICTORY!

Now there are three Russian cities...

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The spoils:

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Calendar now essential as the next technology to enable workers to build plantations to help keep the fast growing Russian civ happy. There are soon to be five cities...

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Next chapter: Beating back the barbarians and exploration.
(Note how instead of the usual 'scout first, fight later' concept, this is reversed in this approach to Immortal level games.)

also - I am away for the next few days so tune in again then as I won't have a chance to create this next chapter any sooner!

 

[bobbyboy29]

Great write-up! I was thinking of doing something similar to show people just how much better the game is when playing with these mods. Its important to highlight these changes for those who don't yet play with the mods. Things like the buffs to stable and granary (now called smokehouse) which make previously undesirable special resources much more desirable to work, it makes some of these buildings much more fun to build, and, as you noted, it makes city placement significantly more meaningful.

 

[Tomice]

ezysquire, thx for this!

I didn't have time to go through it in detail yet, but as a casual king/emperor player I really appreciate having some strategy guides for the modded and vastly improved game!

While in Thal's game it seems like way more strategies are viable, there's still a whole lot of mistakes to make

 

[Txurce]

Ezysquire, could you explain why you chose epic speed over standard? I've never played on anything except standard speed, and would like some understanding of the pros and cons (presumably on different-sized maps).

 

[bryanw1995]

I play about 1/3 of my games on epic. it's fun for me on standard or smaller maps, but on large + maps my computer gets bogged down in the mid/late game. all relative of course, I have an i7 @ 3.9 with a gtx 460 @ 1680x1050, so it's not unplayable at all, but going from completely smooth with very small waits to mostly/somewhat smooth with waits up to 2-3 minutes is a no-go for me. I was a marathon cIV player, however, so epic isn't normally as painful for me as it is for most other players.

Main benefit that I like on epic is that military units are able to be in the field longer before becoming obsoleet. main frustration is that buildings/units obviously take even longer to complete. oh, a side benefit of epic is that you get a bit more of a boost from pyramids b/c of rounding, that no stacking workers can be a real pita some times.

 

[Txurce]

Main benefit that I like on epic is that military units are able to be in the field longer before becoming obsoleet. main frustration is that buildings/units obviously take even longer to complete. oh, a side benefit of epic is that you get a bit more of a boost from pyramids b/c of rounding, that no stacking workers can be a real pita some times.

So it's strictly a matter of personal preference, then - everything lasts longer, and takes longer. No major changes to game approach, except maybe more combat? And it's more common on larger maps because it gives you a chance to deal with everyone before the game runs out?

 

[ezysquire]

So it's strictly a matter of personal preference, then - everything lasts longer, and takes longer. No major changes to game approach, except maybe more combat? And it's more common on larger maps because it gives you a chance to deal with everyone before the game runs out?

HI again folks, back after some time away. I hope to ccomplete the next installment for this thread tommorrow.

@Tuxurce though:
Why do I choose epic?
Well, traditionally I ALWAYS played on standard speed setting. I felt that the game was better balanced for this.
But in CiV I don't see it this way. Maybe I'm just getting too old now to keep up with the young bucks, but I think the Epic speed setting improves the harder levels of difficulty as it just slows the game down enough to maximise the joys of each era and improves decision making.

While build times are slower and tech times longer etc in Epic/Marathon, what the slower time permits is for the use of each era's military advancement to be of some practicality.
Playing on standard means that you race through some technologies and so having musketmen is pointless since you will have rifles just a few turns later.
On epic this is not so. Muskets do have their place as the length of time it takes to learn rifling is longer.

The greater number of turns also enables more patient combat, something which I believe enhances the realism of the game. something I enjoy (personal preference), as I like the empire building notion of CiV; it's not really about 'winning the game' - it's about navigating through the various problems that arise in this ficitonal representation of Earth, and if the correct decisions are made - then the win is nice at the end.

But anyways, I also think playing on the slightly longer speed allows for more tactical nouse. As a player you do not feel as rushed to do things and consequently feel you have a bit more time to mull over strategic decisions. This slightly longer period of time allows for improved strategies, improved strategy implimentation and fewer mistakes.

In standard speed if a mistake is made, it is usually less costly because the pace of change is fast enough to make up for the mistake.

And finally, to go back to the point about only really using Epic on CiV, I think it is a more appropriate speed for troop movement and retention since you can only have one per hex. The stacks of doom situation meant that troop movements across the map were quick and easy enough. These movements are now much more complex (despite dumb ai) and I feel that the Epic pace much better matches the one unit per hex system to achieve optimum troop movment.

All in all though, I think game speed is just personal preference. In CiV I think Standard is fine for new players, but for more seasoned campaigners (who are not high score mungers), I would definitely suggest having a go on Epic as I think it improves the deeper elements of gameplay.

 

[ezysquire]

Ezysquire, could you explain why you chose epic speed over standard? I've never played on anything except standard speed, and would like some understanding of the pros and cons (presumably on different-sized maps).

Pros:
better thinking time.
better game immersion.
better use of military units.
improved opportunity to achieve domination on larger maps.
new technologies carry greater value as their impact lasts longer (not just military techs)
improves value of a production focused city, instead of just gold.
Gives human player a slight handicap over ai.

Cons:
It takes much longer to complete.
Mistakes hurt more as it is harder to recover.
Combat is less challenging with less of a rush needed to achieve military goals.
Gives human player a slight handicap over ai.

 

[ezysquire]

So into Part Three of this guide.

This map just shows a quick refresh on the state of the world immediately post-beating up Harun.

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Killing off Harun provides a bit of breathing space and grants control of the region so that units can heal up and focus on clearing out the barbarians.

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Of course taking a bit of time can cost some pillaged lands, but nothing too much of a problem. Is better to allow a pillage than risk a unit.

Folllowing the victory over Harun, allowed for a quick land grab and is an important move to make early. Winning a game of CiV with just a handful of cities is not really all that easy. It is always good to have a solid base of strong cities when playing in a traditional manner such as this (ie not ICS or any such invented game style).
These cities are really good ones that combined form a controlling and powerful block from which I will be able to do pretty much whatever i choose.

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Fifth place considering I don't really have any mines is pretty sweet. Horse Pastures FTW!

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Speaking of which...
Note also that if I wanted a scout to assist in opening up the map, I could get one now for next to no turn cost. This is preferable than the early on waste of build turns for something as expendable as a scout.

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A new meeting.

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And another:

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Technology discovery order is always critical and setting era goals is even more so. The best medieval era breakthrough technology this game is theology to unlock monasteries for my incence. But first it is important that I check to see that I have iron resources near.
It is here that possibly my favourite improvement to CiV in the Balance - Combined MOD is made. Iron ore is revealed on the map with the discovery of bronze working and not iron working.
This change greatly frees up the tech tree instead of commiting players to rushing to iron working 90 per cent of the time.

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Okay, so focusing on the barbarian beat back stage of the game there are several different approaches. Some players will farm a barbarian camp for experience, others will just crush them ruthlessly, but I like to wait for the camp to upset a city-state. These kill barbarian missions are the easiest to complete for free city-state influence.
These missions also indicate that a worker may have been stolen, and I love stealing workers so this provides even more insentive to wait for the brutes to cause some grief.

In this game, I got lucky and discovered a camp that was annoying the near maritime city-state of Oslo as I produced a horseman in my capital.
Perfect!

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Completing the horseman in Moscow, presented an interesting situation for the build queue. Moscow was so producing so many hammers, wonders were quick to build - Stonehenge in just 8 turns.
Building wonders early on in Immortal level of difficulty is risky as the ai advantages are great at the start in terms of production potential. The catch-up game described earlier once again rears its ugly head for such choices.
But in this case - at a meagre 8 turns I thought what the heck, may as well go for Stonehenge, especially when a monument takes just three turns less...
If I miss it, well I get some decent gold and didn't wasted a maximum of just 7 turns. This is an acceptable risk.

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This should be easy... Seems he just got away from Oslo.

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Boom. Win a friend.

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Now this is an interesting choice. I love keeping workers, but returning it gives me an early free alliance with a maritime state. This would greatly help early growth, despite maritime city-states being less good in Balance - Combined. So I opt for the alliance as I already have a reasonable number of workers.

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On with the exploring and another city-state is found as I attempt to reveal the Mongol territory.

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Ok, so I miss Stonehenge, but do earn 84 gold from just four turns. So perfectly acceptable.

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Always helpful.

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So out comes bronze working and the krepost is going to be very helpful. Russia is all about the sprawling empire, so between kreposts, monuments and monasteries, I should be able to quickly fill out the gaps in my territory. The krepost is an excellent UB imo.

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And sure enough I get lucky with resources again and have some iron near key cities that are already built.

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Workers now looking to build some trade routes and get incence hooked up to boost happiness as this is getting low. The longer you can keep cities growing with positive happiness the better. The avoid growth button is inevitable in CiV, but hold off as long as possible to maximise city power.

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Ram Kam joins the party.

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Well this is an interesting choice. Great Library or Pyramids. Risk is just 11 turns, so definitely going to go after one. Most players would probably go for the pyramids, but I don't think that the faster worker speed is critical, especially when I have gone down the liberty SP tree that gives a bonus to worker speed already. So I go for Great Library with the brilliant idea that I can use the free tech to slingshot to medieval era with the completion of philosophy also in 11 turns!

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[ezysquire]

So Ram Kam is actually quite close and in the meantime old Washington has shown up also.

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Pacts of Cooperation seem to be good if you intend to remain at peace. Ram Kam is close'ish, but I think peace with him is pretty certain for a long time to come. The concern is with Mongol munter and Monty to the north. So a pact of cooperation with Ram Kam seems a good call.

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He wants more though... which I deny since I know nothing about Rome's position.

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Great, always helpful.

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This time - EXTREMELY HELPFUL - again with awesome luck from the city-state request timing with map discovery.

This joy is soon dashed as I realise my "brilliant plan" to slingshot to medieval is impossible owing to Balance - Combined. The 'hard' rule on technologies means that I am unable to claim theology with a free tech when production of the Great Library rolls around.
The way 'hard' works is that the median number of beakers to reach a currently researchable technology is calculated. Then, any technology that is at the median or below is open to be unlocked with 'Free Tech' bonuses, and all techs that are above the median beaker number needed are classified 'hard' and therefore unlockable by 'Free Tech' bonuses.
Curses. I can't get iron working either in a couple of turns time with the Great Library

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Research agreements are always 'iffy' things when taken with neighbours. I have no idea where on the map Washington is, so this seems like a good buy at this early stage. No obvious risk of war to miss out on it.

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Dang that feels good.

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Given what's locked owing to what's 'hard' construction seems the best next choice.

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Construction is a really good technology in Balance - Combined Mod. It unlocks two additional buildings: aqueduct and Agra Fort.

Aqueduct is excellent and I'm pleased to see it re-introduced in CiV by Thal as this is a classic civ building - going all the way back to beloved first game.
In CiV the aqueduct gives 40% retention when a city grows. With an aqueduct in every city a national wonder (unlocked at engineering) Trajan Baths can be built also. This gives +6

The Agra Fort is a city defence bonus and has two slots for merchant specialists. It is a national wonder. It requires walls in every city to be built.

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Moscow is totally kicking it, so I decide to take another risk and go for the oracle. 10 turns is totally worth it. The better I can shoot through the liberty tree the better. I don't intend to store up social policies. It's not really in the spirit of the game.

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Sure, np.

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Catherine is popular with the men I suppose - everyone wants a piece.

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Novgorod is really close to the Mongols, so quick land grabbing via culture will be important here. So too will building skilled units...

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Building those monasteries and getting into the medieval era is so important that I think 21 turns is acceptable for a breakthrough tech like this. In Balance - Combined each era gives a slight science bonus, so getting to medieval will help me learn the other techs.

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Mutual interest - sure...

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Another successful quest and friends it is!

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Seems not all is well. Perhaps She is jealous of Catherine's hold on Washington?

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Big iron hook-up. Sweet.

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Ram Kam's getting fiesty.

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too much to bear!

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Solid.

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Hallelujah

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[ezysquire]

Okay, so I want to fill out the liberty tree early on. Getting these bonuses quickly is great and they are really useful for a medium-large sized empire early on. Pushing for representation early to get the culture bonus everywhere is a really nice bonus to help compensate culture costs for new SPs for having a medium size number of cities early in the game. the improved workers also mean you don't need as many.

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The new settler unit is nicely timed with the unlocking of another SP. It is really a good idea to plan settler building times around social policy unlocking. Adjusting build orders to achieve this is a must.

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No cat fighting today.

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Beating up Harun has really set me up nicely.

Of course, being first is always uneviable.

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Great, war with Rome is so unlikely.

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Great, settler is ready in perfect time. He arrives at the build spot one turn after the next SP unlocks and his passage to get there is ideally protected by the chariot archer.

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Bonus gold kill this one. Messing around with barbarian camps that are well beyond your territory is pointless. Just want to kill this one and take the 37 gold. This situation also shows the advantage of searching with a warrior and not a scout. A scout simply can't attack it and expect to conquer it with other civs around. The warrior on the other hand...

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Unbelievably there is a barbarian camp in my way!

To the east and I decide to let Ram Kam's warrior have the first attack on the barbarian camp. hopefully he will damage it enough for me to finish it off with my warrior to claim the gold...

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Sweet, friendship pays off!

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Filling out the tree.

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BAH! damned horseman ruins my party.

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Finish that sucker off.

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In Balance - Combined MOD chariot archers are given the move after shoot ability. This makes them awesome at clearing out barbarian camps because they can do this (note the turn numbers in the last and then this screen shot - both turn 119):

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Owing to the rapid culture boundary expansion play of the Russians, building a bit of a distance from current borders is no problem.

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A couple of quick tile buys here to match the 75% carryover with the SP is a good idea to get this new city up and running fast. Getting monument and then krepost quicky will require some early on.

It's important that you make some decisions about what tiles get worked. Some players see this element of civ as boring micromanagement, but to get the best out of your cities, you have to do this. City governors never have been, nor never will be, better than the human player.
Note the dramatic improvement to production, yet tiny worsening of food growth, in allocating one of the grassland default tiles to the horse tile.

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[ezysquire]

More barbarian joy!

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Ah yes, the birth of a great general thanks mainly to barbarian fighting. This is going to prove most important as the next stage of the game nears...

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Great, the Hagia Sophia is available now. Getting as many great people as possible is always good in CiV and for this reason, i rate very highly this wonder. If theology is researched early enough, it's definitely worth a shot.

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And boom. Good times.

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Contact:

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Ah, no thanks. Monty - you are too close. And well, you are MONTY (an acronymn for: Most Overtly Not Trustworthy Whyner).

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And with the era unlocking comes sure enough: a free social policy. Thanks Balance - Combined for making SP more enjoyable and obtainable.

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Great. It all helps.

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Good scout. Now that looks like a bit of a choke hole for my warrior. If he goes north his return may be cut off. But I don't care since he is just a crappy ancient era warrior. He is totally expendable and if I decide that he is worth keeping I can always use an open borders with the English. We are so far apart that the 30 turn agreement would expire before Elizabeth would have time to do anything against me with the open borders.

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Now for the fun.
The barbarian and exploring stages are winding up now, with much of the map revealed and some solid control in the southwest achieved by the Russians. There are several strong cities already a fair way through constructing the key buildings (library, krepost, monument and soon to start on monasteries) and there is the opportunity to build a strong army from the steady military unit base already produced.
This is an important juncture as it is at this point that military focus is decided. Do I continue to be aggressive and take out an enemy? If yes, which? or do I play defensive now since I have secured good territory and have some good space to expand into still?
I think the decision is pretty obvious this time. Kill Mongols. based on the speed at which I can wipe them out will determine if domination victory condition can be achieved. If it's a quick conquer then maybe push on and see what I can do. If it takes a while, then no problem. take them out and then go defensive to go for science or culture victory.
I want to avoid a declaration of war, so I will try to annoy Mongol man enough to make him DoW on me instead.
Buying land next to him is a pretty good way to hack him off.

Ewwwww, and in this case, if I let that city build Maachu Pitchu I get that nice wonder too when I conquer him!

Remember to tune in for the next chapter coming soon: 'Don't be Scared of Genghis'

 

[Tomice]

Nice playthrough! I'm especially hesitant to start a very early war, usually the AI declares first. Good to see in detail how you pulled it off.

 

[ezysquire]

Welcome back all.
Now for the war we have all been waiting for: vs Genghis.
If ever there was a technology to give confidence to a BC war, it was this one:

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I now move to mathematics as I will need catapults to be successful in beating back the Mongols.

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Meanwhile things are heating up in the East. I will need to pick a side soon...

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I can now begin upgrading some units. Always upgrade. It's more efficient than building new units.

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The Russian war machine is slowly moving into gear with the kreposts coming on line. All cities with a krepost will be expected to build some units. While this flies in the face of the usually preferred method by most players 'specialised city approach', I actually think spreading the military unit production load is a superior tactic. It provides more flexibility to the player and enables a mass production which a single city cannot achieve. In this map with the Russian core of cities all geared to be powerhouses, it is logical that they all have the ability to build everything.

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Now, before I actually go to war, it is important that I have a very clear plan of attack. It is easy once the war starts to become distracted or stalled during fighting from achieving the primary goals.
The number one most important goal 80 per cent of the time is to remove a civ's capital city as fast as possible. This is achievable against the Mongols, and in this picture I have illustrated the path to take Karakorum quickly and with reduced risk owing to border controls.
With Karakorum puppetted I hope to take Turfan to take what should by then be a completed Machu Pichu.
I can then sweep NW to clear the coastline there of Mongol scum.

Mathematics completed! So all military techs for now are researched. I choose optics now because it's only four turns and by obtaining it, it should remove the Balance - Combined 'hard' from research.

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No thanks Genghis, but at least I know where to find an ally...

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My early army gathers, well protected by my allies Oslo.

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Here comes trouble.

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Seems a fair fight.

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Interesting to note Genghis is so strong. Also of interest is that I have the best science! Not playing catch-up for long in this game

Time to make some demands to rile up Genghis.

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Never declare war when prompted to do so by an ai civ (as shown here). doing so means that you are declaring war on their turn and so gives them first strike. This is a very bad thing.

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Sounds good. Us girls have got to stick together afterall.

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Excellent!

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This seems like a good time to declare war. I can pick off an easy horseman kill.

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Following construction of the Hagia Sophia, I let Moscow finish off the circus as it was only going to take a couple of turns and now I switch its focus to unit building, with a particular emphasis on horse units as this city has a stable.

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The emphasis from other cities is on catapults, with the occassional swordsman.

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The early research agreements are going to pay off now with this first one coming in. These should speed up the medieval period nicely for me. Getting to renaissance earlier rather than later is helpful as it enables me to open the rationalism SP. Also, I am not going to manipulate the research agreements with the 'one turn of research' play. I really don't like these exploits!

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Golden Age is fast approaching and some meritocracy to help with unhappiness about to be caused by the war ought to be helpful.

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Mid-pack is ok

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Hit and run tactics are great. The shoot and then move ability given to chariot archers in Balance - Combined really makes these wheeled monsters from the ancient days very useful.

Keep it coming in the capital.

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AI really is bad at assessing the player's strength.

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Ah good, the Mongol worker party moves into view.

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[ezysquire]

These diplo opportunities are times to check your empire status vs an opponents.

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The Russian war machine kicks into overdrive.

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AI rushes are so dumb. I'm just hanging back in the no man's land, where I am supported by Oslo and letting the Mongol first wave come to me. Always fight on your terms!

Again, some diplo recon:

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Hanging back is best.

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Its worth proven here:

Um, Monty, are you for real? Can't you see? I'm ALREADY AT WAR WITH HIM!

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Wow, these unit build times in Moscow during Golden Age are just wow.

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Meanwhile in Rostov, production is not so good. It is built on a flood plain and has good food resource, but it needs some hammers. Specialists are a good way to do this, so building the Heroic Epic there to give two slots that are easily fed by the flood plain seems like a good idea.

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Great.

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The war is heating up now with the Golden Age boost to my unit production now showing its strength in my front line. I now have the strength to push into Genghis' territory.

He smells the pain coming.

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One down:

A loss, frustrating, but oh well.

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Sure, thanks. Keep 'em coming.

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The net tightens.

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Just in case there is some monkey business by Genghis to the flank of my civ, I post some defence.

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This picture is busy, but it shows the heat going on Mongol this turn.

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Boom!

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And taken...

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The citadel improvement from a great general is buffed in Balance - Combined. Buliding one here is part of my defence vs Monty and also to boost in Rostov.

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Things are really heating up in the East. (ironically they are western powers )

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Here comes some pain. One of the more interesting additions to the game in Balance - Combined is the return of partisans. When a city falls, a unit of the civ's current era spawns at its capital. In this case it is a longsword...

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Great, I will use this to enter the renaissance.

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Old Sarai proved to be an easy kill, so I attacked it instead of sticking with the original plan. I felt able to make this adjustment for three reasons.
1. I could take Old Sarai with a small force while my main army healed.
2. Mongol seems out of gas and the partisans are going to be the hardest units to kill from now.
3. Machu Pichu was cancelled in Turfan.

Argh, these aren't pretty.

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Time to bet the farm eh Genghis. Denied.

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