Time Victory

[AnitaGaribaldi]

I need to submit at least six more games to become a Quattromaster and I need a time victory... This victory should count too for the Elite Quattromaster. I'm playing one game now aiming a time victory. My plan is eliminate all civs but one. I have Cyrus with one city surrounded by my cities and we have close borders... The culture of my cities are taking tiles from his little empire, its not bad, he work the cottages than the cottages flip to me . It's still early DC. Is it possible that his only city will flip to me? I just don't want to have a bad surprise and get a late conquest/domination win.

Spoiler :

 

[WastinTime]

It's not possible for it to flip to you, but why even cut it close? gift him another city.

 

[kovacsflo]

I agree with WastinTime. Dancing with the dom limits in time victories, if you are far the strongest civ, is very dangerous. Since the time in the attached picture is only 275AD, you will have to give several cities to AI/barbs.

I only have 2 time victories so far and I don't plan any more. One of them needed a whole week after worktime (24-25 hours). Most of the time was just pushing enter. Boring

 

[WastinTime]

I really enjoyed my Time victories. It helps if you don't start Ancient and don't play Marathon. Sadly, EQM was poorly designed to force people to play these options. Getting Time on Diety can be challenging, and then, once victory is inevitable, you still have some score milking to do if you want to get the #1 spot.

 

[kovacsflo]

I really enjoyed my Time victories. It helps if you don't start Ancient and don't play Marathon. Sadly, EQM was poorly designed to force people to play these options. Getting Time on Diety can be challenging, and then, once victory is inevitable, you still have some score milking to do if you want to get the #1 spot.

I think it's not harder to play at deity with 2 opponents then play in emperor with 8-10 of them. And the 2nd version gives you more QM points.

We are not the same, I prefer 5-8 hour games, with the addition that my last games were 15-25 hours (the gmajor 28 and an imm/marathon conquest), since these are the results what can improve my QM and EQM rate.

 

[cabert]

I must say I agree with both wastintime and kovacsflo.
I'm not good at time victories, and I had only won a settler and a warlord game, just to check the boxes for QM until I decided to go for monarch EQM.

I forced myself to play it right from the start, check the cities, limits enemies quite often, and finally enjoyed the game very much. It's rare that I can play around with stealth bomber and such toys...
After that one, I decided it was enough though

 

[kovacsflo]

I must say I agree with both wastintime and kovacsflo.
I'm not good at time victories, and I had only won a settler and a warlord game, just to check the boxes for QM until I decided to go for monarch EQM.

I forced myself to play it right from the start, check the cities, limits enemies quite often, and finally enjoyed the game very much. It's rare that I can play around with stealth bomber and such toys...
After that one, I decided it was enough though

If you want to go for monarch EQM, you will experience that in higher levels the hardest thing is to weaken AI-s WITHOUT reaching the dom levels. If they have too much lands, they will be easier to win a cultural or SS victory. Btw I'm prince because in that diff AIs start without archers- making possible fast conquest games (I mean 1-5 minutes) in small prince maps. It's more easier and the difference is just one level.

 

[WastinTime]

If you want to go for monarch EQM, you will experience that in higher levels the hardest thing is to weaken AI-s WITHOUT reaching the dom levels. If they have too much lands, they will be easier to win a cultural or SS victory. Btw I'm prince because in that diff AIs start without archers- making possible fast conquest games (I mean 1-5 minutes) in small prince maps. It's more easier and the difference is just one level.

You just need to raze the cities instead of keep them, then you won't get near Dom Level and they'll stay in the stone age.

 

[kovacsflo]

You just need to raze the cities instead of keep them, then you won't get near Dom Level and they'll stay in the stone age.

It's not so simple. In good places cities will be built ower and ower again. Otherwise at the middle game, you are badly need cities to improve your military capacity. And if you reach 43-45% when you don't want to keep cities any more, you will reach 56% (much) later unless if you give some cities to AI/barbs.

 

[WastinTime]

Well, you can tell by looking at any of my Time games that my secret is island maps. It keeps them contained (not much re-settling) and you don't get increases in land from culture.

 

[kovacsflo]

Well, you can tell by looking at any of my Time games that my secret is island maps. It keeps them contained (not much re-settling) and you don't get increases in land from culture.

I tried the island thing (with the Vikings), but it didn't work for me. I couldn't reach all my opponents in time, however I beleive that it's a big advantage to prevent reaching the dom level. I chose lakes with cold temp because it lets big abandoned lands for barbs (they helped me a lot), but for a better tactic what I applied I could imagine that island can work better. That's why you are far the best player

 

[FiveAces]

Well, you can tell by looking at any of my Time games that my secret is island maps. It keeps them contained (not much re-settling) and you don't get increases in land from culture.

Another way is to think of terra as an island map with a really big island everybody starts on. The starting landmass is (usually) not sufficient for dom on its own, but it's close enough to still get good scores. You just wait until one AI has founded a city on an island and then claim everything else. You don't even need to bother with the new world except to pop spam at the very end - just make sure you've crippled everyone before they are anywhere near astro.

 

[WastinTime]

Ah, but you're missing the secret advantages of tiny island maps. They break the city distance rule. Instead of 3 tiles apart, cities can be 2 tiles if on different islands. You also avoid the massive colony maintenence cost.

 

[kovacsflo]

Ah, but you're missing the secret advantages of tiny island maps. They break the city distance rule. Instead of 3 tiles apart, cities can be 2 tiles if on different islands. You also avoid the massive colony maintenence cost.

Ha! I play with CivIV from ages and sometimes I still have to realize that there are important things that I never heard.

In my opinion archi can result bigger population, but it seems harder to reach and punish all the AI-s. However, I can imagine that under deity AI will suffer a technological backward compared to the land or continent maps. Also they will harder to reach strategical resources (even if they are seemeingly close to them).

 

[cabert]

Ha! I play with CivIV from ages and sometimes I still have to realize that there are important things that I never heard.

In my opinion archi can result bigger population, but it seems harder to reach and punish all the AI-s. However, I can imagine that under deity AI will suffer a technological backward compared to the land or continent maps. Also they will harder to reach strategical resources (even if they are seemeingly close to them).

The thing is they will have their big production bonus, but won't be able to efficiently send defensive (or counteroffensive) stacks to the threatened (captured) cities.
AND you don't have to worry about resettling as much as with a mostly land map.
+ if you play a "water" leader and select "land" leaders as opponents, you get a big boost.
My new favourite for time victories is joao, but ragnar is pretty cool too. Not to mention willem of Orange.

 

[kovacsflo]

The thing is they will have their big production bonus, but won't be able to efficiently send defensive (or counteroffensive) stacks to the threatened (captured) cities.
AND you don't have to worry about resettling as much as with a mostly land map.
+ if you play a "water" leader and select "land" leaders as opponents, you get a big boost.
My new favourite for time victories is joao, but ragnar is pretty cool too. Not to mention willem of Orange.

I think Ragnar is better choice for this task, unless if you have to play in a map where neighbour islands are too far away.