Wow, did anybody win on the first go?
OK this was the worst start imaginable, especially for me since I'm pretty bad at managing the AI to fight each other.
On my first playthrough I got backstabbed by issy on turn 95ish. played another 20 turns til I got backstabbed by Askia(I think the eastern civ).
Managing/bribing the AI to war is probably my weakest part of my game, but I'm getting better.
This setup is actually really fun to play. After a few restarts where I learned how to better manage issy (I realized I could pay her one lux when she was hostile to DOW her own friends), I had an attack rolling (turn 290, 3 capitals down and about to start to attack germany and brazil simultaneously). I left the game there since it wasn't going to be a real submission.
I did some practice runs of this setup on other random maps (this particular map is probably more difficult than most others (low production and the fact your capital gets the "They covet your lands" from your neighbor no easy worker steal)
My strategy is this.
Go Honor Right/Left then Exploration, Build 4 Exp. Have them send production to the capital (or other high production city) so get the capital to 75H or seabegger every 3 turns with Morale promotion(heroic epic). I've found that by turn 225 I could roughly have both Navigation and Armory. Sell every thing you can, I could ususally have 4/5 seabeggers wtih costalraider III and logistics attacking around turn 250, then it's just a matter of sweeping through the capitals about one every 15-20 turns. Try to get SoZ and GL in the first 2 or 3 capitals you capture. Definately possible to win with this in the 320-350 range.
you can also go liberty instead of honor which starts the attack sooner, but doesn't snowball as the honor finish and costal raider allows you to get to the point you can buy a seabeggar every 2-4 turns.
Seabeggars with logistics and exploration are OP move 2 to attack -> 2 attacks -> move 2 to safety rinse and repeat. Use a Great Admiral to reset a group and you can take down a city with 90 defense in 2 turns with 5 seabeggars.
How useful was your UA?
Extremely allows for a wider play if you take lands with unique luxuries.
- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Yes. getting a few tech steals can open the window of attack a few turns sooner.
- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
helps a lot the seabegger + Armory = instant logistics which is crushing.
- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
not much
- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
- Honor - Exploration. Autocracy if the game was still going on.
- What techs did you prioritize ?
optics a little ealier than usual to get goodie huts off island and the lighthouse.
After philospopy went Machinery for workshops (instead of the usual education) then Navigation/Steel the last two are the key. Armory+Seabeggars.
Final thoughts, Thanks for putting this together, this setup was like playing a completely different game.