TSG45 Game in Progress

[leif erikson]

Welcome to the TSG45 Game in Progress thread. This thread is used to discuss the game once you've started playing. There are no posting restrictions as such (apart from normal decency), although we encourage players to use the spoiler tags for screenshots. Here you can post questions related to the game and share your achievements/anger/frustration/victories while you play. Please remember that we are running a family friendly site, so express anger or frustration with this in mind.

STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed at least 80 to 100 turns in your game.

Please use this thread to discuss your goals for the game and your opening moves through about the first 60 to 80 turns.

- Did the Polder improvement affect your choice of where to settle you capital?
- What were your initial priorities?
- What tech path did you follow?
- Were there any early wars and who started them?
- What Social Policies did you choose and why?

 

[Monthar]

I'm up to turn 101. I settled on the northern coast. So far I have 4 cities. The 2nd city on the hill to the SW, 3rd city on the desert to the SE so it could work 2 crabs and a fish and the 5th city on the dyes to the west.

I've met Russia, France, Celts and Spain. Russia took out the Celts.

I'm sold/traded every luxury I could. I used the cash mostly on work boats for additional crabs and to buy the libraries in the 3rd & 4th cities.

I'll finish NC in a couple turns and can start on the Oracle.

I've got 4 workers building polders, 2 for the 4th city, 1 for the 2nd and 1 for the capital.

One of the AI's beat me to God of the Sea, but I did manage to get the +2 science from trade routes pantheon. I might end up using my Liberty GP for a prophet to ensure I get a religion.

 

[majgat]

Hi ! My first try in Game Of The Month !

I've observed this forum and sometimes even try to play on GOTM map's but not on competition time, right know it's time for that !

End on 102 turn right now, i've just get Guild Tech

I've decided to settle on the bold river hill from left to get production bonus from cutting forest for my Great Library wonder and i did that on time !
Used free tech on Drama and poetry, then builded Amphiteather on capital (good thing if your civ is unhappy, u can use artist slot and get culture buff too finish Liberty faster)

So looks like only my capital will going to use polders, great ! Become monstrual city !

But my biggest problem was long way to every luxury on beginning.
So long time i've have 0, -1 happiness and -gold per turn

Concentrated on quarries.
scout, monument, shrine, then GL. I've buyed my first worker, second stoled from Marrakech, third get from liberty.

Shrine give me fast Pantheon, becouse of quarries i have choose Stone Circles +2 faith every quarry. Found Saldevanizm: Tithe + Pagoda, for next enhance i need some production bonus

Rotterdam city on coast from west south, then Utrecht on desert east side of south to get more crabs for trading !

Boudica invasion on 78 turn ! Forests save my city of Rotterdam. I've lost two warriors two archers left, but pushed her away, she attacked with 3 warriors, 3 archers, 2 catapults and 1 pictish warrior.

DoF with Catherine and Isabell.

Completed liberty policy and made one academy with GS, Builded Oracle also and opened Commercy, but im not sure which way choose, naval for admiral scout and production bonus for my second cities or gold and luxury bonus? still have poor gpt...

right now I've buyed borders to sugar and dyes and i'm making more luxury.

Spoiler :

 

[leif erikson]

Hi ! My first try in Game Of The Month !

Greetings.

Welcome to CivFanatics and GOTM. Best of luck.

 

[Schalke 04]

I AM SO.... annoyed...

I wanted to set up a religion with the sea resources founder belief. So I built a shrine first in my first cities. When I saw that Stonehenge was still there and noone seemed to bother, I built that as well. All my cities were placed coastal to get acces to all of these sea resources out there, so my religion plans kind of influenced my strategy / settling pattern.

The founder belief was not the problem. Took god of the seas... yay... sea resources ftw

BUT... When I reached the 200 faith threshold, my Prophet didn't show up. Yeah I know that happens. However in my case this happened for several turns, allowing THREE other Civilizations to found a religion right into my face. Oh my... So no religion for me... I just don't get it...

I know, it's not crucial for a science victory to have a religion. It's still very annoying... Especially since I now get converted to other useless religions/beliefs and lose my precious hammers on sea resources...

 

[Aaronius]

- Did the Polder improvement affect your choice of where to settle you capital?

Definitely. Four cities are placed to exploit some serious polder power.

- What were your initial priorities?

My initial priorities were heavy scouting, hooking up lux resources for sale, then buying settlers for my five city empire. I only actually built one settler and one worker, bought the rest.

- What tech path did you follow?

Getting luxes determined my earliest techs, then I beelined for Guilds. Backfilled some of the cheap stuff, went for some wonder techs, then tried to get Education quickly to fully buff the polders.

- Were there any early wars and who started them?

I declared war on a CS to steal a worker. Boadiccea did the same. It was peacefull until Boa declared on me. She's crazy. I am well defended and allied with Russia and Spain, who now hate her. I strongly suspect everyone will eventually begin hating Napolean and declaring war on him, but he has his musketeers so he might become a runaway. I may nominally participate, or I may not. In case I have to put Nappy down, I'm going for artillery.

- What Social Policies did you choose and why?

I went with the tradition opener so that I could grow my cities as fast as possible for some late game scientific power. All my cities are coastal so I took Commerce until Rationalism could be opened. Then its Freedom/Rationalism to the finish.

 

[MatthewT]

My first 100 turns:

002 - Amsterdam founded on the grasslands in the delta of Amstel river (2 tiles NE from starting location).

around 020-025 - slave worker taken from Hanoi.

around 050-060 - Russia denounced on behalf of Almaty. Barbarian tribes dispersed near Venice and Almaty. Venice became friends and provided a food supply. Almaty became ally and provided a warrior. Russia denounced me. Meanwhile the construction of stone circles begun (+2 per quarry).

057 - Crabs near Amsterdam connected and sold to Spain.

058 - Rotterdam founded on the furs tile SW from starting location. Almaty is 4 tiles away, St. Peterburg is 5 tiles away. Furs sold to Russia.

064 - 071 - war with Russia. I tried to capture St. Peterburg with the army of 4xwarriors, 2xspearmans, 2xarchers but was badly beaten. I lost all warriors, spearman but managed to get white peace.

065 - Furs sold to France. Money used to rush-buy spearman.

078 - Iron Working discovered. The Classic Era begun.

086-090 - The life of great prophet Zoroaster. He was born in Amsterdam but moved to Rotterdam there he founded Zoroastism (Stone Circles, Tithe, Cafedrals).

087 - Utrecht founded near a deposit of gems (NW of the continent).

088 - Groningen founded only 4 tiles SE from Amsterdam.

097 - Pyramids builded in Amsterdam.

So, on turn 100 my empire is:
4 cities of population of 6,4,1,2 for a total of 13
All Ancient Era techs discovered, also discovered 3 techs from Classic Era (Iron Working, Mathematics, Currency) for a total of 14 techs.
Opened 5 social polices (in order of acquire: tradition opener, legalism, landed elite, monarchy, aristocracy).
Religion founded and spread to 1 city.
World wonder - Pyramids.

Spoiler :

 

[Gamewizard]

My city placement looks similar to Aaronius', except I built another one on the river south of Almaty for the Sugar and Copper. Also Boudicca wiped out Napoleon so he is obviously not the contender as in his game.

I am at turn 170 and I just finished Economics for complete Polderificationism.

The AIs went religion heavy this game, 5 pantheons were up before I generated a single point of faith. I still have 3 civs to find, and I'm assuming Ethiopia and/or the Mayans are included. Despite that, I was still able to pick up God of the Seas and be the first to found a religion thanks to Stonehenge. I chose +2 gold from cities and +2 faith from World Wonders as I already also built Great Library and Pyramids and was working toward the Oracle, Alhambra, Notre Dame, Hagia Sophia, Leaning Tower, etc. By the time I enhanced, Pagodas was gone so I took Mosques and extended range spread.

I finished Tradition, opened Liberty right side, and opened Rationalism.

Tech to win.

 

[RedRover57]

I settled my capital NE on the coast (west of the river) and went for a standard 4-city Tradition start. My other 3 cities were west on the dyes, SW on the coast/crabs/furs and SE on the coast/crabs. The start was quite slow (NC around T100 or so) for several reasons - low growth until polders, lack of rivers except in cap, lack of early cash (sea resources and too much crab; having to build rather than buy settlers since cash was saved to buy libraries/workers [stole 1 worker from a CS]; potential trading partners lacking cash), lack of early production. After the NC I settled a final 5th city to the west (gems peninsula) and just stayed small/tall/peaceful. The cities eventually became quite good, particularly with God of the Sea/harbors/seaports and all of the production buildings, and polders for growth, but not until mid-late game. Tithe was also very good as the founder belief and ultimately I had plenty of cash. Wonders were easy to pick up later as the AI didn't prioritize them (I grabbed the Oracle around T160!).

However, around mid-game I realized that this strategy was going to result in a slow finish time. I will be lucky to break T300 I think. My thoughts about this in the spoiler:

Spoiler :

Small/tall only results in a fast finish time if you can sign a lot of RA's. I was only able to friend Russia and Spain on my continent (they both hated/warred France and the Celts, and the Celts were taken out by Russia anyway). On the other continent I friended Sweden only (later in the game) as everyone hated England and Rome (Sweden eventually took out Rome). So this resulted in only signing 3 waves of 2-3 RA's, which are not enough for a fast time. The winner will undoubtedly go for a wide/semi-domination strategy and make up for lack of RA's with land/population.

Another crazy thing about this map - no cultural CS! Not a single one! Because of this I will barely make it through Rationalism (full Tradition, Commerce opener, then full Rationalism). Without CS allies it is difficult to get far into Commerce (would be awesome on this map) and Order.

In addition, lack of jungles and mountains (for observatories - only in my 5th city) makes for a slow science finish.

 

[RedRover57]

One humorous aside to my game: Even though we had a DoF, Cathy sent a Great Prophet directly to my capital. To me this is a blatant ACT OF WAR and the AI should really not do this if friended. Luckily the AI is stupid and I was able to hold off the very persistant GP for over 150 turns using 3 ranged units in a continuous ring-around-the-rosie blocking dance. But it is incredibly annoying and one of the worst aspects of G&K. After my last RA is finished with her I am of the mind to take a few late game units and blitzkrieg through her territory just out of spite, even though it won't help (and may even delay) my finish time.

 

[budweiser]

played to t195

Spoiler :

Just unlocked Economics. 3 cities, full Liberty, Great Admiral, God of the Sea. Happiness issues because of all the food. Settled cap 2 NE, then 2 cites south of that on each coast. Cash bought 3 unis. Havent played Oxford yet, 2 academies. Lost 1st religion by 1 turn. Like the rest of the pack, I would be lucky to finish sub 300. But, what the heck? I will play more tonight. 2 warriors, 1 archer, 1 pike are my men. Signed a couple RAs but was mostly waiting until later for those.

 

[flairin]

I stopped for intermission on t144 with 128 bpt, 32 cuture pt, 5 faith pt, 4 happiness, halfway to first happiness golden age

For my capital I settled in place... I am a few turns away from building NC so that should push up my beakers.

I built 6 cities fairly quickly... the last at around t70 and focused on CS quests. All but one has built the Uni.

A finished Acoustics a while back and am filling out the bottom of tech tree. In less than turns I could have Navigation and hence Sea Beggars but I think I need to get my military going cause Napoleon is coming after me. 3 turns till Iron Working. I'm currently 7th in military, haha!!

Think this continent will be easy to conquer. Russia has one city and the other Civs are 3 or less!!

Isabelle is the only one friendly to me, haha!!

Religion: Only in Capital
Pantheon -- Desert Folklore
Founder -- Church Property
Follower -- Guruship

Social Policies:
Liberty finished with Oracle then GS for academy
Tradition with Legalism and Monarchy (could have opened up Rationalism but was not happy enough to benefit!!)

So I guess I gotta wait for Rationalism in 20 turns or so!!

 

[Maxym]

Started with a 4 city trad opener but Settled 3 cities only, as Russia exlanded towards me and took one Of my planned spots. 3rd city way down south by Boudicca next to sugar and copper north of her cap. By that time I knew I was not gonna be her friend, she fought Marrakech then Caty and now Nappy. I decided to take her out especially since she has 1st religion and will spread it. Got Nappy to contribute 100$ to the war effort and DOWed her killing GG with my archer. Rush bought 5 archers and upgraded to CBs should be enough to take her out.

My pantheon was 5 th so I missed out on god Of sea got stone circles instead. 15% growth if at peace and tithe. I think I might be 1st to enhance. Then after Celts are out I will take Cathy out and try to play it with a 3-4 city plus my puppets being peaceful from now on to avoid warmonger hit

 

[MatthewT]

My turns 101-200

101 - crabs sold to Spain for 190, 2xiron sold to Celts for 90.

104 - crabs sold to Russia for 109, gems sold to Spain for 190.

108 - silver from Spain exchanged for furs and 150, sugar sold to Spain for 159 and 1 gpt. This was the last important trade of resources. After that it became a routine. 500 gifted to Almaty.

110 - Guilds researched. Medieval Era begun.

117 - Tradition branch finished.

118 - Prophet born in Rotterdam. He became a great reformer of Zoroastrizm, famous for his Asceticism and Religious Texts.

146 - Macchu Picchu built in Utrecht.

149 - road to Almaty constructed, Education researched, RA signed with Celts, Oracle built in Utrecht, this led to Liberty opener.

152 - road to Venice constructed.

153-155 - Venice-born Merchant Enrico Dandolo arrived via newly-build road. He organized a trade mission to Hanoi in order to improve relations with it. Hanoi became friend.

155 - Chichen Itza constructed in Amsterdam.

157-172 - Golden Age.

166 - Unknown civilization reached Renaissance Era. The spy sent to Hanoi

171 - Zoroastrianism spread to Zanzibar.

172 - St. Peterburg captured by Celts.

173 - Astronomy researched. Renaissance Era begun.

174 - Oxford University built in Amsterdam. Navigation researched. Breda founded on Dye tile west of capital. This is my 5th city.

180 - RA signed with Celts.

181 - Hanoi became an ally after some behind the curtain work by my spy there.

183-186 - Discovery of the New World: Vatican first, then England, Rome, Sweden.

191-192 - Capetown affair: my explorers found some Zoroastrian survivors (probably emigrates from Zanzibar) and liberated 3xsworker for Capetown and also dispersed barbarian camp there. This led to gain of 230 in just two turns.

196-198 - Life of the 3rd great Zoroastrian Prophet. He created a holy site in the desert near Groningen.

199 - RA signed with France.

 

[Totibbs]

I made some mistakes LOL, but Emporer is anyway too hard for me . I placed Groningen just on the one coast spot on 4 hex between the Dyes and Gems lux. So I miss those 8 hapiness.
Also I was a bit late with my Great Prophet to found a religion. So this is my first game without the "gods" part of the add-on
But I feel being the King of the city-states. Im allied with a lot and stealing techs from Napoleon with the one spy. Only England is a pain with stealing my city states. Pledging succesfull coups

 

[AlexAdam]

I'm currently on turn 88 and I only have 2 cities so far, BUT... I already have a capital with the Great Library, the National College, the Hanging Gardens and the Oracle, plus I have the 1st religion, I have cleared Tradition and I have started building polders, not too bad I think

I settled in place and researched Masonry right after Pottery, for the much needed production and the faith from the Stone Circles pantheon. I stole one worker and built another one. My build order was: Monument > Shrine > Scout > Worker > Warrior > GL > NC > HG > Oracle. I bought the Stone Works, a settler and a work boat.

Techwise, I prioritized Guilds over Civil Service - no Civil Service for me yet, but it's going to happen in a few turns and I'm off to Education then. Except if Boudicca attempts something funny, in which case I will delay Education for a few turns to get Construction. From what I read in the other posts, I can see this is highly probable. I currently have only 2 warriors and 1 archer. I got 2 more warriors from allied CS, but I deleted them because I was very close to zero income. Also, Isabella hates me because I got all the wonders. When I also get the Pyramids in a few turns, I think she might have a fit and DoW me. At least, Cathy is my Friend. But for some strange reason she is very stringent with money - Napoleon gives me much better deals and he is Neutral.

I am 1st in population and 2nd in score. My capital is still size 11, but that is because I stayed production focused. I think, in the end game, this will definitely be the most populous city I have ever built.

 

[Tabarnak]

Turn 120 :

Policies : Full Tradition.
Religion : +2 from quarries, Tithe, +15% production(max 15%), Pagodas, +50 per gp consumed

Settled in place. scout-worker-warrior-shrine to 3 . Then started on 2 settlers. 1st settler went on the fur tile and sold immediately that luxury. Waited that city growing to 2 Then rush bought a settler that went even more south right of the horse and stone tiles to catch dyes and copper later. Settled 4th city near cows and crabs south east of capital. Standard 4 cities tradition opening.

Turn 51 :

Spoiler :

But...both Catherine and Bouticca DoWed me! Alright...this is emperor level and they only has 1 city each. I decided to defend with my 2 warriors only and started on libraries everywhere with the GL in capital. I could get back my fur thanks to that DoW form Catherine That helped my cities to grow.

Turn 71 :

Spoiler :

Catherine got lazy here and couldn't got through my small army. 1 Almathy's warrior joined the fight. She decided to give me a nice peace deal...i obviously accepted! I also made peace with Bouticca for a bit of gold and 1 gpt(max she could).

Spoiler :

Then my cities prospered. I allied 3 maritime cs during that time and i'm working on Education before Guilds. Focusing on growth with work boats, granaries and lighthouses. I'm first in score.

Turn 100 :

Spoiler :

And again, a maritime cs has still not connected his.....WHALES!!!!!

Edit : Played a bit more to turn 120.

Celts DoWed me again but alone this time. I made another favorable peace deal some turns later. Rush bought a university in capital and working a bit more on culture. I'm going for Astronomy for my first ren. tech. I will send 2 caravels both sides to reach other civs. Semi-built Petra in Utrecht(switched for trireme for now) and will rush buy another university in there as soon as i will have enough gold. Semi-built university in Rotterdam(going for another trireme). Oracle is 3 turns left in capital(aiting for Astro). I just hope that another civ will not finish Petra because this wonder is important here.

Spoiler :

 

[Gamewizard]

Settled in place.

Curious as to why you would settle in place over settling 2 tiles up on the coast, or anywhere else for that matter...

 

[Tabarnak]

Curious as to why you would settle in place over settling 2 tiles up on the coast, or anywhere else for that matter...

Production.

 

[flairin]

Production.

That is exactly why I decided to settle in place as well. Your first three cities are settled in the same location I settled three of mine!! I settled my "fifth" city on the hill right above the copper by Moscow (just a couple hexes where u put yours) cause at that point neither Russia nor the Celts were going after property. My second city went on the Dyes and last 6th city settled on the Gems.

I got my 7th city by taking out Moscow and stopped going after anyone else after... easy pickings. She likes to build wonders!!