Transition Economy Space Race: Emperor

[futurehermit]

Sorry ungy. Sometimes it's just hard to sustain the momentum of a game when other things and other interests are going on at the same time June was brutal for me with two conferences and a lot of real-life stuff. Now I'm interested in a few other strategies. I hope we can still win this one though

 

[ungy]

Sorry ungy. Sometimes it's just hard to sustain the momentum of a game when other things and other interests are going on at the same time June was brutal for me with two conferences and a lot of real-life stuff. Now I'm interested in a few other strategies. I hope we can still win this one though

np--having invested a fair amount of energy in this I am also interested in seeing a conclusion. If I play it out (likely) I'll use the constraint of no cottaging tiles that could be farmed until democracy.

 

[ungy]

OK I played this out a while. I use the constraint of no cottaging outside the capital.

I build the HE in Paris and build a few more swords before switching to cats/ele. Trade for HBR and stable and instructor in Paris. Pop another prophet and settle. Scout reveals that Thebes will be a great NE site.
Research continues to lib--I research drama and sell it to recover the cost. The GM gets 1100 for a trade mission to Thebes so we research well for a while. We found tao in 900!--the other continent must not be advanced.

When I have around 10 jumbos and 12 cats I launch the attack on Egypt in 1010. Egypt gets knights a turn later but we obliterate a few HA, WC.
It's a steady march--I take Thebes first then Memphis and Pi-Ramesses.
No cap yet--I'd like Helio anyway.

Then the plan goes awry--Ramesses vassals to Zulu. Zulu also have knights but are surprisingly inept in their attack and they do little but force a longer war.

In 1250 we win the lib race--woohoo!! (we did pop a sci for edu) I've been able to trade for the prereqs so I take astro.

We get peace with Zulu in 1390 and it's all over. Egypt has two cities left.

We can either take out the Zulu or just run to democracy and cottage spam but the game is decided.

 

[ungy]

save is here:

 

[benh]

*ahem*... lurker clears his throat ...

I've been following this game since the start and, as it appears near stalling, I've some questions to put to you players. A debrief, if you like. (me? Im a Prince level player trying to improve by studying the masters):

Im trying to understand the disinterest in this game over time, and whether it reflects a disillusionment with a TE strategy. It feels a far cry from Futurehermit's original enthusiam:

My interest in this game is my belief that a transition economy is the "best" way to play the game, with the SE shining in the earlier eras and the CE shining in the latter eras.

1. Was this game's configuration Suitable or Unsuitable for TE-SpaceRace, or is TE-SpaceRace adaptable to most conditions?

2. To what degree do the players agree/disagree with Futurehermits earlier statement re: TE, in light of the play expereince?

 

[sunrise089]

Transition strategy still seems valid to me benh, but I think it calls for an ideal map. In fact, the whole SE seems to call for an ideal setting to me, even on higher levels, to be useful for a space win.

See, the main advantage of the SE is warring, right? But a Space victory only requires one war, which a CE can normally handle fine, even on higher levels (using a favorable timing Axe or Cat/Jumbo rush.

In order for the SE game to NOT be about constant warring and still be stronger than early cottages, they need advantages, like a Philo leader, the Pyramids, or a food-heavy start.

To me, the big mistake here was making the game so stacked against the presumably weaker strategy. I know if they had simply dominated early research it might have been even more impressive, but the SE simply isn't THAT strong.

I would like to see the same team take on a game with a Philo leader (or better yet Lizzy, with the SE/CE synergy) and build the Pyramids. Then they could really show us what their economy could do, and make their transition showing us the momentum can be maintained.

 

[Snaaty]

I basically only wanted to report that I´m back and ready for some playing... ...but the game seems more or less over now... ...and with all the players leaving I think I also quit

...

@ Ungy:

Congrats, seems you won the game alone then

...

@ Sunrise & benh:

I also still think the transition approch is a very good idea, but better then using the "extreme" approch of this game might be to focus on farms early (=not only farms) and then switch to mainly cottages (not only cottages) later.

Since I plan to do one more game on a huge continent map anyway (immortal or deity, but deity on warlords seems to be pretty much impossible to win on these settings... ...need to do some testing... ...likely going to describe it in stories and tales), I´m going to test this approach a little bit more there, to see if it really works out as intended

 

[pigswill]

I think I'll try to play this one out. Having never won on emperor before I think I won't have any artifical restrictions. I may also post some updates in the hope of getting some advice.

 

[ungy]

Im trying to understand the disinterest in this game over time, and whether it reflects a disillusionment with a TE strategy. It feels a far cry from Futurehermit's original enthusiam:

I lost my enthusiasm for the game after most of the players had left--mostly I think due to RL constraints. I don't believe Futurehermit, despite his initial enthusiasm for the game, ever played a set.

1. Was this game's configuration Suitable or Unsuitable for TE-SpaceRace, or is TE-SpaceRace adaptable to most conditions?

I think somewhat unsuitable. I think the main advantage of a SE is the leverage one gets from lightbulbing and trading around. We were poorly set up to trade. The ivory was huge, and without it we could not have taken on Egypt, as we faced macemen and knights which would have decimated our backwards army w/o the jumbos for protection. As for the space race, I think in most games a win is a win--I'm pretty sure we could have other VC here if desired.

2. To what degree do the players agree/disagree with Futurehermits earlier statement re: TE, in light of the play expereince?

I have always tended to be more of a CE player myself, and here I don't think we really ran much of a SE. To me a SE means generating GP at multiple cities--I can't remember if we got a GP outside the capital but if so it was only one. Had we not been attacked early on we would have developed Orleans differently and likely gotten a couple of GS there.

I do tend to agree with the concept--the early GP are huge, and the research from the specs early is important too. Later GP are expensive and add comparatively little while the cottages rock with the civics US and FS.