Game: Civ5 GOTM 66
Date submitted: 2013-08-27
Reference number: 29589
Your name: Cragspyder
Game status: Incomplete Retired
Game date: 2024AD
Turns played: 449
Base score: 1335
Final score: 1335
Time played: 6:54:00
Submitted save: Kamehameha_0449 AD-2024-July.Civ5Save
Renamed file: Cragspyder_C506601.Civ5Save
Just so pleased about posting a failure, even though its my first GOTM, it didn't stop other people from beating it.
Started out really well with GL to Parthenon, like others have done. However, I settled my additional cities very late which probably slowed me down a lot. I also build all three guilds in the capital which is a mistake as well. Eventually Morroco started beating me to some of the cultural wonders (like Uffizi) and everything went downhill from there.
Portugal kept DOWing everyone (except me) and not getting anywhere, by the end she was second last. Assyria was wiped out by Poland in the Atomic era sometime. Morocco had a ridiculous amount of culture. So did I, but even with Internet researched, my capital filled with Great Works and maxed tourism buildings, 840 or so tourism total, plus Open Borders, Trade Route, and Diplomat (minus Ideology which was different), I still had something like 150 turns to overtake him.
So the only option was to try to take his cities, starting with the culture producers, which in my game were Marrakech and Fez. But I had no Aluminum nor Oil (nor Coal but that was a problem earlier), and I couldn't keep control of the city states that had them. And I had neglected my military research the whole game. But, I did manage to build four Nuclear Subs, load a Carrier with two Atomic Bombs (I did have Uranium), and convince Poland, Brazil and the Shoshone to all declare war at the same time.
Then I nuked Fez twice and attacked it with a force of Destroyers, Marines and Foreign Legionnaries from the Freedom Ideology.
Still failed to take the city. Apparently an undefended city in the Information Age still has a defense of 150 or so....
Then the UN passed the resolution to cut Great Musician production by a third. In 2025 and with every civ on the planet completing Spaceship parts I decided to retire.
What did you think of the new Culture VC?
Well, I'd already beaten the game as Austria with it (on King) but it is extremely frustrating to see that it's impossible to beat a culture-focused AI civ without invading them. I had more then 25 policies so I would have won the other way.
- How many cities did you build? How many did you end up with?
Four.
How did you use religion or spying to your advantage given BNW? Are these element more of a factor, or less?
If I had used religion better I might have won as I needed two more 8000+ Great Musicians to win. I had a religion but almost no faith production so I couldn't afford them by the end. Spying was the only thing that kept me up to date science-wise.
What Social Policies and Ideologies did you select and how did they support your goals?
I picked Tradition, Asthetics, Exploration, then all the Culture-relevant Tenants in Freedom, then Rationalism. I had more policies than I knew what to do with. However, I don't think any of them improve Tourism except for the one tenant in Freedom.
How did diplomacy go with your neighbors?
No one ever declared war on me, I had Open Borders and trade routes with everyone the whole game to facilitate tourism.
Were your UA and UU helpful in achieving your goals?
UA was helpful to find huts and explore early. Maori Warrior was useless. Moai was useful but Tourism is important for the VC, not culture.
Were any AI runaway's in your game?
Morocco, as noted above. They had a huge up-to-date military in addition to their ridiculous culture income.
