The Unluckiest Lucky Start

[3Davideo]

I vote for conquest, just to get things over with quickly. Or whatever.

 

[turtlegladiator]

great game. inspired me to stt my own monarch game. conquredmy continent by 900 AD, built a ton of speialist farms, and i'm ahead of everyone else in techs. have steel coming in @ 4 turns with 20% science rate in 1300 AD with everyone else still playing with their knights.

and i vote for conquest, kill them fast .

 

[Aabraxan]

Well, welcome to CFC, turtlegladiator! Good luck with your game, but it doesn't sound like you'll need it.

I played a few more turns following the last update and conquest seems like the likely candidate.

 

[Nergal]

Is domination an option. Because if its set as a possible VC then it would kick in before a Conquest VC.

 

[Aabraxan]

Actually, no. For some reason that I no longer remember, I turned Dom off.

 

[Nergal]

Go kill then ......

 

[gmaharriet]

Go Aabraxan!!! I'm just catching up here, and it looks like you're well on your way.

It appears there are some interesting questions regarding reputation. I don't think I'll ever understand all the nuances between trade rep, alliance/MPP rep, etc.

 

[Aabraxan]

Yeah, this threw a monkey wrench into my understanding of rep as well. It opens up some interesting possibilities. Anyway, I've got 3 votes for Conquest, so a-warring I will go.

 

[anaxagoras]

Maybe I'm missing something, but as I understand it, there are two kind of reputation, and they do not interact (much). One kind is your alliance reputation. If you break a MPP, peace agreement, or attack an ally during an existing agreement, then it will become difficult or impossible to enter into future MPP's or engage future allies, and the cost of peace agreements will rise. The second kind is your trading reputation. If you break a per-turn trade agreement (or if one is broken through loss of a trade route, even if you didn't cause the loss), it will become difficult or impossible to use per-turn agreements in future trading.

As I understand it, these types of reputation are entirely separate, except that both will affect attitude. Also, breaking an alliance or beginning an attack can secondarily cause the demise of an existing per-turn trade agreement, so a single action can cause you to lose both kinds of reputation at once, depending on the game situation.

That's how I understand it, anyway, with full knowledge that I may be completely misguided.

 

[Aabraxan]

The only active deal that I had with Joan when I was forced to declare was a peace treaty. No gpt, no luxes, no resources. So my per-turn rep with Joan pretty well imploded when I had to DOW her. That was not unexpected. What was unexpected was that I would still be able to do per-turn deals (even if they're expensive ones) with the other civs.

 

[Nergal]

I think Rep appears to work on an individual basis, it proabably does trash yuor rep but not to the extent with others as it does with Joan. My suspicions are that the relationship modifiers you get in CIV, ie -4 because of different religion etc are a more complex version of the CIII mechanics. So its the sum of factors that gives your rep with each Civ individually.
On a different note, I just played a game as Germany, got well into it and found I only had conquest as an option ... aaarrggh .. but it was fun ..

 

[Aabraxan]

I think you're right, Nergal. For some reason, I thought you had one trade rep, which was the same for all AI civs. Apparently, it is possible to tarnish one's rep with all civs, while only really trashing it for one. Sorry that you found out that you only had conquest enabled, but glad you had fun with your game.

 

[Aabraxan]

Also on a different note, I suspect that the next update will be the last. If not, it will certainly be the next-to-last. As this game draws to a close, I want to thank everyone who's followed along and commented. I've had great fun with this game and your questions and comments have made it that much more enjoyable.

Thanks

 

[Nergal]

Awww .. I've enjoyed it Abraxan. Yeah the game was fun, I've got a screenie of the last Greek town, defended by a conscript rifleman and 2 reg hoplites, surrounded by 3 Panzer armies and a stack of 18 Panzers .... Immense fun

 

[Aabraxan]

Chapter 19: Apparently, my luck is better than theirs!​

1680 AD:
Tarsus falls (It contains Magellan's Voyage. I'll hang on to that if I can.)
All else is preparation for other attacks.

1685 AD:
The Iros attempt to mount an invasion, sailing 4 frigates and a galleon right past part of my navy (5 destroyers & a battleship). Suffice it to say that their invasion never happens.
Akwesasne falls
Allegheny falls
The Hittites and Iros both now know Facism and both are in Anarchy. I only see 8 Iro cities left, so I've got to say that their government change isn't particularly well-timed.

1690 AD:
Salamanca falls, giving me The Pyramids and Newton's University. I'd like to hold it, primarily for The Pyramids, but I don't have much hope. Time to churn out a few more slaves. BTW, I love it when the AI hides slaves in its capitol! I got 7 from Salamanca!
Hattusha falls

1695 AD:
Oil Springs falls

Fission comes in. I have 3 sources of uranium.

After consultation with my advisors (that's you guys), I've decided to go for all-out conquest.

1700 AD:
Gandamasomethingorother, the latest Iro capitol falls.

1705 AD:
A volcano erupts right next to Rusucurru. That city's been right next to the volcano for eons now and I've been just waiting for that sucker to erupt.

Spoiler :

Tyendenaga, another Iro capitol, falls.
Mauch Chunk falls.
Chondote falls. The Iros are now a 1-city-civ. Gayagaahe is a size 6 city on a tundra island. Begin moving transports for the final island hop.

I've cruised past a couple of indian cities. Nothing tougher than rifles there.

As the AI has an awful case of Wonder Addiction, I decide to check the Wonder screen to see who's building what. I behold a lovely sight:

Spoiler :

I believe this is the point where I'm supposed to say, "They're mine! All MIIIIINE! Mwahahahaha!"

And in the event anyone's still curious, here's my military advisor.

Spoiler :

And in 1710, I decide it's time for Final War.

I sell Communism to Joanie for 56 gold, her WM and TM, and to Ghandi for 8 gold and his WM and TM. Mursilis has 0 gold and Hiawatha has 1. (Not that I'm really afraid of what they would do with the 64 gold between them, but I like fighting enemies who are broke.)

Spoiler :

Kolhapur falls. For the moment, I am the sole occupant of the second continent.
I lose a Cruiser to a Frigate!

Seafaring is a nice trait, especially when you get Magellan's Voyage and 10-move destroyers. The other navies really take a beating from these.

1710 AD:
Tingis begins the Manhattan Project. Due in 12 turns. I don't need nukes, but I just might have to build one or two for fun.

The rest of the next couple of turns is spent rushing settlers and putting down new towns. As of 1720, I have 177 cities.

1720 AD
Naturally, because there's so much fog, I get this:

I disperse a Mycanean encampment and take 25 gold.

1720 Ecology comes in. Ordinarily, I'd go with synthetic fibers for Modern Armor, but I take Rocketry. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually get around to building a nuke. . .

1725 AD:
Ankuwa falls. I have now begun to spread out from the second continent.

1730 AD:
Emar, Jaipur, and one other city fall.
Alaca Huyuk falls.
Avignon, the latest French capitol, falls.
Hubishna falls.

Out of curiosity, I check to see how many cities I've got: 197. I don't think I've ever passed the 200 mark, but I just might in this game.

1735 AD:
My first nuclear sub is christened.

1740 AD:
Rocketry comes in, with Synthetic Fibers next. Dunno if I'll ever actually build MA, but I can't resist their lure any longer.

Of course now my luck decides to change.

Alalah falls
Besancon falls
Adana falls

1750 AD
Rouen falls

And finally, I get to destoy someone!

Well, at least the Iros were kind enough to let me have a last round of target practice.

1752 AD

And with that, the navy heads south. The last Iro city was destroyed in the rectangle below. The last Hittite and French cities (2 of the former, one of the latter, are in the red circle.

At this point, I have 205 cities, 172 slaves and 0 workers. Also, I don't have Espionage and have never built the Intelligence Agency, so I can't tell what sort of military Mursilis and Joan have, but I'm going to guess that this is an understatement:

Spoiler :

1754 AD:

Also, Kanesh falls, leaving 1 Hittite city.

I have tanks right next to the last Hittite city, which appears to be an undefended size 1. Here are the last screenshots of the Carthaginian Empire:

Spoiler :

And finally, the year 1756 sees the end of the Hittites.

And with that, the tale of The Unluckiest Lucky Start comes to a close. Thanks for following along.

 

[Nergal]

Well done mate .... I was suerprised by how small your military seems though. And you made my mistake, although it didnt actually get there. You need Rocketry before Synthetic Fibres, otherwise you cant see the Aluminium and cant build MA. I've done it a couple of times, got Synthetic fibres and spent 5 minutes wondering why my tank builds havent flipped to MA.

 

[Aabraxan]

Thanks, Nergal. Actually, that's a mistake the I ordinarily make, but dodged it this time. I took Rocketry ~1720 AD and had several sources of aluminum. Just never got to Synth Fibers. And yeah, my military does seem small. It's been below the unit limit for quite some time.

 

[gmaharriet]

Congratulations on a great game, Aabraxan!!!

 

[darski]

Great Game!!!

Those were some very brown pictures there.

 

[timerover51]

A very interesting and informative account, Aabraxan. I had not considered the fact that corruption does not effect food production, nor specialist effects. I will need to keep that in mind. You also have much better luck with the AI in trading and peace agreements. I have yet to manage anything like that. Your style of play is also much different from mine, but overall, an account that was quite profitable to read.