Kevin J
Hewer of Wood
I've been trying to get the GL with Babylon on Deity, and I think I've finally found a combination that works. It's worked my first two tries on marathon, settling in place (though settling on a riverside/hills/gems/mountainside would be ideal). It also worked 3/4 on standard. If you disagree with any of these tips, or have suggestions to improve this, please add to the discussion. Think I just had a few lucky attempts? Quite possible! Test it out and see.
So, here's what I did:
1. Disable Goody Huts. What's more likely: the player popping a goody hut that grants a tech along the path, or one of multiple AI's each with multiple times your military units doing so? Don't give them an even greater edge. Yes, this is non-standard. It's to remove some RNG. If the AI pops writing, game over, you lose the race. That's just the breaks. But if you prefer the RNG, go for it!
2. Hard build worker first. Given (1), scout first isn't as valuable. Your initial warrior can do some exploring till about turn 20 (standard), then pull him back for barbarian defense.
3. Use some gold to pick up extra forest tiles to chop if necessary. Trade with your nearest neighbours (gpt for lump sum or settled mining luxury) - it gives you a positive diplo modifier, which *should* reduce the chance of DoW. Try to find gold to rush buy an extra worker on marathon - this is not feasible on standard speed.
4. Get mining before writing. There is no time to tech anything else. Your worker will do nothing but chop, and build one mine. Chop the forests for 2 turns, leaving 1 turn (on standard). Finish the chops once you discover writing. In case of an early DoW, you can finish chops early to get an extra military unit - this will delay your GL however. You will typically have 3-4 worker chops applied to the GL.
5. Try to time your builds so that you finish a build just as you discover writing - you don't want to waste turns. Military units are the filler here, you'll likely need them to ward off a rush anyway. If you still have a granary building when writing pops, finish a chop to clear it, but try to time it so that this isn't necessary. On the turn you discover writing, start construction of the GL. Typical build order settling hills: worker->monument->granary->warrior->GL. Adjust based on your production & chopping.
6. When you finish research on Writing, move your Great Scientist to a forest tile you haven't pre-chopped. Settle on forest tile, ensuring production is set on the GL. This extra forest chop is free extra production.
You may need to spend a turn to move your initial settler nearer to forest - I did on a few attempts.
All 3 policy trees are viable. Tradition+Aristocracy for 15% wonder speed is good. So is Honor + Warrior code for the 8 turn golden age. Liberty's free worker isn't bad, but you can have most forest tiles pre-chopped without it.
This method doesn't always work (see my later post for a few trials on standard). I had it work 2/2 on marathon speed, and 3/4 on standard - sometimes, the AI will still beat you, even if you do everything right.
Your suggestions/analysis?
So, here's what I did:
1. Disable Goody Huts. What's more likely: the player popping a goody hut that grants a tech along the path, or one of multiple AI's each with multiple times your military units doing so? Don't give them an even greater edge. Yes, this is non-standard. It's to remove some RNG. If the AI pops writing, game over, you lose the race. That's just the breaks. But if you prefer the RNG, go for it!
2. Hard build worker first. Given (1), scout first isn't as valuable. Your initial warrior can do some exploring till about turn 20 (standard), then pull him back for barbarian defense.
3. Use some gold to pick up extra forest tiles to chop if necessary. Trade with your nearest neighbours (gpt for lump sum or settled mining luxury) - it gives you a positive diplo modifier, which *should* reduce the chance of DoW. Try to find gold to rush buy an extra worker on marathon - this is not feasible on standard speed.
4. Get mining before writing. There is no time to tech anything else. Your worker will do nothing but chop, and build one mine. Chop the forests for 2 turns, leaving 1 turn (on standard). Finish the chops once you discover writing. In case of an early DoW, you can finish chops early to get an extra military unit - this will delay your GL however. You will typically have 3-4 worker chops applied to the GL.
5. Try to time your builds so that you finish a build just as you discover writing - you don't want to waste turns. Military units are the filler here, you'll likely need them to ward off a rush anyway. If you still have a granary building when writing pops, finish a chop to clear it, but try to time it so that this isn't necessary. On the turn you discover writing, start construction of the GL. Typical build order settling hills: worker->monument->granary->warrior->GL. Adjust based on your production & chopping.
6. When you finish research on Writing, move your Great Scientist to a forest tile you haven't pre-chopped. Settle on forest tile, ensuring production is set on the GL. This extra forest chop is free extra production.
You may need to spend a turn to move your initial settler nearer to forest - I did on a few attempts.
All 3 policy trees are viable. Tradition+Aristocracy for 15% wonder speed is good. So is Honor + Warrior code for the 8 turn golden age. Liberty's free worker isn't bad, but you can have most forest tiles pre-chopped without it.
This method doesn't always work (see my later post for a few trials on standard). I had it work 2/2 on marathon speed, and 3/4 on standard - sometimes, the AI will still beat you, even if you do everything right.
Your suggestions/analysis?