TSG194 AAR

Knowtalent

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Welcome to the TSG194 After Action Report thread. In this thread you can post the results of your game. Please state victory date and score (preferably in the post title), as recorded in the Hall of Fame, and the most important: your path to glory!





STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed and submitted your game.





Please attach your final, first play through, .Civ5Save file, saved AFTER the victory ceremony if you were not conquered (using the "Lemme play one more turn" feature.) In your post.







- How useful was your UA?







- Did you use spying to your advantage?







- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?







- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?







- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?







- What techs did you prioritize ?







- What did you think of the map and settings?
 
Science victory on turn 273. I know that's the wrong type, I was just glad to pull off a victory of any sort. I almost quit when I met Germany and they were 12 techs ahead of me. And again later when I was in a quagmire of a war with Shoshone, Austria, and Portugal (they declared on me) that lasted at least 20 turns and they would not settle for peace. Shoshone built the Great Wall and was right on my border with cavalry. Austria was attacking border cities on the other side of my little empire with their cavalry, then retreating back to Arabia where I couldn't hit back (Arabia hated me and wouldnt sell me open borders). Portugal was harrassing my city states. Eventually that worked out okay and I captured Vienna and Lisbon. BTW, I did get Desert Folklore somehow for my pantheon.

Something else weird about this game; everyone on the other continent except Germany denounced me as soon as we met. There were no diplomatic modifiers at all, good or bad. And at that point in the game I was neither a threat to them nor weak. I did have an ideology and they didn't (Germany did have a different ideology already and we were still friendly)

- How useful was your UA?
The endless golden ages thing was really good once I got that going. I had tons of gold from that, and the extra movement and strength bonus was nice. It only lapsed for about 4 turns while I was waiting for another great artist because Science Funding passed in the WC. I built the writers guild early, but delayed the artist guild until just before I took the Universal Suffrage tenet, then bulbed all my artists; I used my museums for artifacts and captured artwork.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Counterspies in my capital. Once they leveled-up I would move them to city states for influence. I never did steal any techs.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Not the map type so much as the size, and it was a hinderance. I never did settle a coastal city; I captured Lisbon, and it had the Great Lighthouse, but it took so long to come out of resistance I never annexed it and built/bought a navy.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
Emperor is my favorite level. I am usually good at it, but not this time. Too many opponents, I think.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
Tradition opener, Honor opener, finish Tradition, left side of Honor, Aesthetics opener, Rationalism, Freedom.

- What techs did you prioritize?
Pottery, Bronze, Civil Service (I still didn't get Chichen Itza), Philosophy, Metal Casting, Education, Gunpowder, Scientific Theory, Replaceable Parts, Plastics, Satellites.

- What did you think of the map and settings?​
I knew from the start it would be difficult with a huge map, quick pace, and no city razing. I didn't realize how tough it would be. I planned to capture one nearby capital in the early game, then play a peaceful science game until the modern or atomic era, and then crush everybody with bombers, paratroopers, battleships, etc. It didn't work out that way. The Shoshone kept up with me in science and were sometimes a little ahead, and I never did catch Germany, (but Bismarck got distracted and I beat him in the space race.) I have no idea how Pocatello grew his cities so large, and he didn't even improve many tiles. I hated capturing his cities for the happiness hit, then wait forever for the city to come out of resistance. He had several cities that were larger than my capital throughout the game. He did not have Artemis, Hanging Gardens (I had that one), religious beliefs that help with growth, or any city state alliances; I don't know how he did it.
20200523142524_1.jpg
 

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  • Darius I_0273 AD-1993.Civ5Save
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I started it again just for fun; Tradition opener, full Liberty (great scientist), finished Tradition even tho' that delayed Rationalism by one policy, Rationalism, Freedom. And I made sure to settle a coastal city rather than wait to capture one, because there aren't many coastal cities and captuing one takes too long. It's going a lot better this time. Domination victory will still be tough. I've taken-out Shoshone, severely crippled Morocco and taken Marrakech, and now I'm at war with Arabia. I don't have much aluminum but I have a little; I have so much oil it's embarrassing and I'm about to capture more.

ETA: It's amazing what a difference settling a few extra cities makes. First time thru I tried to do it with 3 big cities and a wide puppet empire; I was afraid the "no city razing" thing would bite me if I didn't. This time I settled 5 or 6 cities myself, a few more puppets, and I annexed a couple of those a lot earlier. This time when I met Germany, I was equal to him in science and quickly outpaced him. I've captured most of the capitals by turn 275, got a science victory again just because (I did not buy any parts with gold or engineers, built them all the hard way but they only took a few turns each in 4 different cities.) And I've "just one more turn"d and going to finish it out. I've already hit Future Tech a half dozen times, so thinking about selling all my research labs and public schools, OTOH I am making 1000 GPT so not sure it's worth selling them.
 
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Loss by resigning T206.

I had fun but there was no point in continuing. I messed around too much and didn't concentrate on science enough. I didn't even meet anyone on the other continent until way late. I knew it was over when I saw an announcement saying, "A far away civilization has entered the Modern Era"... and I was still in the middle of the Renaissance.

I did get desert folklore and my religion was dominant. Once I took out Arabia's religion I was able to spread mine to most of my continent. I was getting so much gold from Tithe it was ridiculous. I missed Petra by 2 turns though!

I didn't plan for the first golden age so blew my chance to take out a civ early. I took out Arabia with my second golden age. That extra movement during battle is awesome. I killed all of Arabia's cities except one - and then my city state ally took it out so I avoided the massive penalty for completely wiping out a civ. I used 2 Great Artists to get my golden ages to attack Portugal. That was a fun war but it took a long time since she had Riflemen and I had Pikemen at the start of the war. When I took Lisbon I called it quits. I was just too far behind.

- How useful was your UA?
Its a lot more useful than I imagined. I just wish I would have planned to take out a civ when my first golden age hit.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Stole a few techs but nothing significant.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Map hurt. Domination on that big of a map made it play like an Immortal game.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
It made me sloppy. I always forget that Emperor is no slouch level. I didn't concentrate on science so the other civs got way ahead of me.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
I did a poorly thought out mishmash of Tradition opener, Liberty left side, and Full Honor and a couple in Commerce later. I was the first to take Autocracy so I got the bonus tenants but I was too far behind for it to matter.

- What techs did you prioritize ?
I beelined for Petra but still missed it by 2 turns. It was almost rage quit inducing. Then when I realized I was behind in science I went to the science techs.

- What did you think of the map and settings?
That big of a map made the game much harder than normal Emperor. Also no city razing made it even harder. Having to take a bunch of crappy AI cities and keep them was not good, its part if the reason I didn't continue. If I'd have had coastal cities it would have been much better. I wish I would have gone for the coast. I had a ton of iron but only one city (that I took from Arabia) to build ships in. If I were to do it over I would go full liberty and found at least five or six more cities, with at least 3 or 4 on the coast. And I would have gone for Portugal during my first golden age. She had two coastal cities, desert and Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Edit. Part of the reason I didn't found more cities was the lack of luxuries. There didn't seem to be enough for this large a map. There were massive areas with absolutely no luxes.

Spoiler Finally took Lisbon... but across the pond, there's Germany. :
Last battle.jpg


Spoiler Core civilization at resignation T206 :
Main civ at resign T206.jpg
 
This time I settled 5 or 6 cities myself,
Hi @zxcvbob Do you by chance have a screenshot of your second game? I'd like to see where you settled the cities and compare it to my screenshots. Did you have any happiness issues? I too realized I should have built more cities - and tried to get to the coast.
 
I don't know if I still have a screen shot or not. Not much trouble with happiness, that I recall. I've played a couple of games since then. I will see what's in my save folder. :)

Found it:
20200601161230_1.jpg
 
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I don't know if I still have a screen shot or not. Not much trouble with happiness, that I recall. I've played a couple of games since then. I will see what's in my save folder. :)
Found it:
Thanks, looks like something I wanted to try. I was also thinking of trying to settle a couple cities south in the middle of the desert along those rivers. And at least two on the coast to the north. Only problem is there's no luxuries, that's why I was worried about happiness. I may try again.
 
T320 Dom VC. I had no ambitions for an early victory. The map being Huge meant war would take a while.

Missed Great Library, but I did get Petra. Missed Hagia Sophia by 5 turns. With failing the GLib gambit, NC was seriously delayed, T117. Pocatello took three of my expo spots, so Liberty turned out to be a waste.

I was first to Autocracy but missed Prora. My only coastal city was pretty weak. I adopted Clauswitz T231 and was at war for the next 90 turns. I missed winning WF and IG, so that was disappointing. I did win ISS.

I thought I would go after Shoshone first, but he gave me the Move or DOW demand too early. I DOW’d Isabella with Pocatello on T203 but did not take Madrid until T256, I still had Lancers at that point. Also on T256 Paris flipped to me from Germany, so that was funny.

Captured Mecca T265.

Cult of Personality, T272.

DOW Bismarck, T286 and recall Napoleon T288. It looks like I did not note the turn when Berlin fell.

T296 I DOW Pocatello. I have ten Stealth Bombers online, but I start with a couple Nuclear Missiles just to soften him up nice. T301 Moson Kahni is captured.

T303 DOW Maria Theresa and capture Vienna T305

T304 DOW Maria Theresa and capture Lisbon T307. I soften up her last city and Cape Town kills her off. My airport finally finishes in Paris, so now I can move units between continents.

T307 DOW Pacal, capture Palenque T308. I liberate his last city to Napoleon T313, so that is two AI that are not around to denounce me.

T311 DOW Ahmad, take and retake Marrakech T313. Meanwhile, Germany cities flip to me every few turns. I have never seen an AI so reluctant to switch.

T314 bribe Ashurbanipal into a couple wars, then DOW him. He is the last hold out because he has Ulundi. It will take a few turns for my SBs to get into range.

T316 close out Commerce, giving me 114 happiness per turn. I have tourist influence over all the AI T317.

T319 capture Assure, T320 capture Ulundi.

How useful was your UA?
Great! Extra movement is the bomb. I was not able to do much with the UU though.
Did you use spying to your advantage?
Some, as I stole a few early tech. Took Industrial Espionage which caught me up.
Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
Larger maps are definitely a hindrance to Domination VC. Since it was continents, I knew I could not win early, so I did not try.
How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
The lower difficulty level meant that I would just enjoy being competitive for early wonders. My plan from T0 was to just turtled until Ideologies.
What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
Liberty then Aesthetics then Rationalism. Then Autocracy and Commerce.
What techs did you prioritize?
Early Writing to make gambit for Great Library (which failed). Then Banking for the UB and Petra (which I did catch, so my game was pretty smooth after that).
What did you think of the map and settings?
I liked Sand Storm well enough. Combining Huge with Fast Pace is not something I would recommend. At least I got through the whole tech tree, and unlocked five full trees.
 
Thanks, looks like something I wanted to try. I was also thinking of trying to settle a couple cities south in the middle of the desert along those rivers. And at least two on the coast to the north. Only problem is there's no luxuries, that's why I was worried about happiness. I may try again.
Pocatello beat me to one of those spot by the natural wonder so I took it from him and annexed it. My screen shot was a far as I could zoom out.

@beetle: Liberty wasn't wasted in your game. It gave you a bunch of happiness late game, an extra hammer in every city, and faster workers.
 
@zxcvbob — I just wish I had gotten two or three more expos up before Pocatello intruded. If I play this map again, I will play a more conventional Liberty game. Also, should have aimed to do some conquering with CBs into XBs. I waited to get Longbows from Valetta and that just wasted 50+ turns. But even with the benefit of hindsight, I am not sure what to do to get at least one strong coastal spot!
 
@zxcvbob — I just wish I had gotten two or three more expos up before Pocatello intruded. If I play this map again, I will play a more conventional Liberty game. Also, should have aimed to do some conquering with CBs into XBs. I waited to get Longbows from Valetta and that just wasted 50+ turns. But even with the benefit of hindsight, I am not sure what to do to get at least one strong coastal spot!

That one coastal city I had plus (eventually) Lisbon were enough. I was cranking out missile cruisers every 3 turns.
 
I am offering this save file for someone to complete if they desire. I only have one Capital on my continent to conquer, and that is Spain's. It is around turn 160. Why am I doing this? Because I am good at war and taking capitals on my own continent, but stumble a bit when I have to set off on a new capital.
The first 100 turns I took my first three capitals. The next was slower, taking about 20-turns. The last I fumbled a little, failing on my first attempt before being gifted Porto for peace then 10-turns later blitzing the capital thanks to a Great Artist Golden Age.

I don't have the time to complete the game and I haven't restarted. Take a look and please let me know what you did!! I don't really expect this game to be included with the Hall of Fame and it probably wouldn't be fair to submit it either since those who have already posted here aren't supposed to be looking until after they submitted their game.

Thanks!
 

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  • Darius I_0165 AD-1700.Civ5Save
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Domination victory, turn 203.

I submitted my game on 29.5., but I'll describe it now, because after seeing posts above, I realize that it is quite a good result.
Shoshone was the strongest opponent and attacked me, but I managed to defend mostly with pikemen vs musketmen. One AI warned me that he was going to attack me, and this time it wasn't false alert. That battle was interesting, because our troops were tactically well positioned in lines, trying to outflank each other.
I conquered opponent capitals and other important cities, after I got significant technological advantage. XCOM made last conquests faster.

- How useful was your UA?
Immortal(warrior who found better equipment) better escorted first settler through lands with roaming barbarian warriors.

- Did you use spying to your advantage?
Only passive, for city-state elections.

- Did the map type help or hinder victory and how?
It helped, because AIs built cities less densely due to desert areas.

- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
Technology focus.

- What Social Policies did you choose and in what order? Which Ideology did you choose?
Mostly Liberty and Rationalism.
Order.

- What techs did you prioritize ?
Scientific.


- What did you think of the map and settings?
Nice :)
 

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  • rTSG194.Civ5Save
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