Warlords Playthrough: Emporer with a twist

[Pete2006]

Played a couple turns tonight.

Finished up BW and popped a copper. I built a road to Shaka's northern borders and Buddhism spread to him but everyone else either got Hindu or Judiasm from Saladin. I could probably send a couple missionaries up to red Peter to convert him but I'm not sure it is worth the investment.

Monty declares on Shaka and gives me a bit of a dilemma. I was hoping to court Monty over to my side and attack Shaka first. I really want that barb city he took up to the NW.

My capital is hitting it's happiness cap of 6 and if I switch to Buddhism, I'm going to make enemies. I'm only 1/5 of the way to IW so it'll be a while before I can get to the gems and even longer before I can research Priesthood for temples.

I am Spiritual though so I could switch to Buddhism temporarily and then revert to no religion after I mine the gems.

I also need to choose whose side of this war I want to be on. I still haven't mined the copper so I have no military at all. Only a 4-5 chariots and some scouts. I can't declare on Shaka for a while.

I could declare on Monty and he probably wouldn't be able to get to me through Shaka but I intend to attack Shaka first anyway...

I think it is pretty clear this city will have to be razed. I'm building a settler now and once I get my copper hooked up, this would be a good target. If I take that city next, I could still afford 1-2 more cities with 2 gems hooked up.

My GNP is tied for #1. I suppose because there are no financial civs in the game. My production is terrible but I'm focusing on my cottages to support myself. I may have only mined 1-2 hills so far.

I had to disband my warrior and a scout to save on troop costs. Building a military and taking a couple cities is going to drop my science rate even with the gems hooked up.

I thinking I'm going to have to join Monty in this war once I get some axes built. I'm definately going to need him to attack Saladin and make sure he isn't left alone to tech. That means I'm not going to be able to convert to Buddhism.

 

[Pete2006]

Stage 3: Everyone declares war

Red Peter sneaks a settler into my territory. That city will probably have to be razed. It is on the coast yes but has access to zero resources. not a good position.

Shaka and Monty make up. Shaka had come to me earlier and asked me to join in and I declined. Monty never asked.

I meet the last civ who also turns out to be aggressive. From what I can gather, it looks like he's on an island to the NE of me.

He makes his intentions clear from the get-go. I don't want to piss him off so I give him what he wants.

And Monty goes after Saladin next! Sweet. He couldn't beat Shaka or me so he tries another.

I declare on Shaka for the NW barb city. He had 3 archers. I take it, raze it and build anew. I need those borders to pop fast to get to the gems.

Khan drops off a settler. At least it is in the right spot.

Everyone wants a piece of me!

Shaka knows I'm about ready to build my awesome UU so he wants out of the war.

Khan pillages my clams and drops off 1 chariot and one axe off of Gergovia. I beg for peace and he demands a city. Fat chance...

I build another work boat and take out his troops without difficulty.

Shaka changes his mind and decides a swordsman with +20% hill defense ain't so scary after all so he demands I switch to Buddhism. I agree to appease him. Nice being Spiritual. I'll switch back after 5 rounds. I have to keep relations with Saladin and Red Peter so I can makes some trades.

I would prefer to have peace with Khan so I decide to attack Samarquand. I took out one defender and he only has one spear left. I can't do anything yet with the city. I'll get CoL very soon and will start building courthouses everywhere but it'll be a while before I can get to Alphabet to try to trade for Calender. I'm also going to trade for Masonry + Monotheism so I can run org religion and build the courthouses quickly.

I can raze and let someone build a new city there or take it now. Opinions?

This is my preferred city location map as well. Any thoughts?

 

[aelf]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=178023

I see these types of threads popping up pretty often. There are a lot players whose strategies are very dependant on Wonder building.

Congrats on your Mansa win. I didn't read the whole thread but I did read the end. Quite a turnaround.

I do use a few wonders to drive or propel my strategy, even though I like to war.

Thanks. I wish you the best for your game. I'm interested to see how you can make use of your UU and UB, which seem to be a little pointless to me (esp. the UU).

 

[William III]

A question from someone without Warlords: What are the features of the UU and UB of the Celts?

 

[carl corey]

William III, you can get all the info about Warlords add-ons and modifications here: Warlords Info Center. Enjoy!

 

[Pete2006]

Celtic UU and UB are 100% worthless.

UU is a swordsman with +20% hills defense.

UB replaces walls which give new units +20% hills defense.

I'll build the walls so I can build castles later for the extra trade route. Otherwise, I'll would just skip it entirely.

The civ traits and starting techs are very good though. I think Charismatic may be better than financial.

 

[mctavish]

Times like this is where I get confused and I would like to see what others say. I would raze becuase the science slider is way to low and I would be afraid of falling behind to much.

 

[Pete2006]

Times like this is where I get confused and I would like to see what others say. I would raze becuase the science slider is way to low and I would be afraid of falling behind to much.

I'm inclined to go this route as well unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't.

Confucianism was FIDL about 5 turns before the last screenshot and I would shocked if Saladin wasn't the one who founded it. That means I won't be able to get Calender from him.

Hopefully Red Peter has it.

Also, I'm running two scientists in Gergovia for a GS. Technically the Mahabadoobie is a World Wonder so I'll skip over that. I've told two city governors to focus on commerce so my finances are a bit worse than they look from the screenshots.

However, once I get Calender I have 5 dyes and 1 incense to work. That's like another 6 gold mines. After the courthouses are built and the dyes are being worked I should be close to the lead in GNP.

 

[Pete2006]

The war continues but now on my terms.

I was able to get peace with Khan before I razed his city. I couldn't afford it and I didn't want Red Peter settling there.

I sent a missionary or two up to Red Peter's land and converted him. I can't take his cities yet and I don't want him declaring on me too.

Making the trades. I'm not going to worry about happiness issues for a long time now.

I took out the barb city and built a new city one spot west. Monty declares on Shaka.

Monty requests assistance I agree. Looks like Monty is pillaging Shaka to hell and back. I'll take a city or two.

I'll probably stop at this one. I want a Shaka buffer between Monty and I. I really want to take out Khan. Even though he trades with me, he is seething with hate and I'd feel more comfortable with him out of the game.

I'm moving in to the #1 spot in just about everything but troops and GNP. I must find a solution there. I overestimated the Calender benefit. As it stands, I'm only keeping up by trading. I'm going to have to have several of my cities focus on commerce only.

I'm not so sure this game is going to end in an early domination win. This may turn out to be a space race.

 

[carl corey]

Have you had any Great Persons yet? I don't think I saw one. I've started a no-world-wonders game too and it's really weird not to get a GP for so many turns.

On the other hand I'm at the top at soldiers, which is unusual this early for me. Of course, it helps that I'm playing with Cyrus and lose only a few units per war.

I hear you about commerce. I've been lucky to get a good number of flood plains around my capital and cottaged all of them to keep up in techs. I've also greatly diverted from my usual tech path, but that also means I have lots of techs to trade to the AIs.

I see you're researching Metal Casting. Going for Civil Service & Macemen?

 

[roadie]

Great thread so far. I would find it difficult with so many aggressive Civs with different religions. You'll have to keep a close eye on the power graph!

 

[Pete2006]

I'm pretty sure I'm near the bottom of the power graph. I couldn't afford the troop expenses to be any higher. I'm already paying ~ 10 gpt on the troops I do have.

Alex has been quiet the entire game. I guess he doesn't share any borders with Monty or Shaka.

No GP yet. In a normal game I would have gone for the Oracle and popped a Prophet. I'm close to a GS though. No one has gotten a GG yet. I've been at war with Monty, Khan and Shaka on and off for 2000 years.... I think I should have gotten a GG by now. Frustrating.

Yes, I'm planning to go for Macemen. Metal Casting may be the wrong tech to have been researching as Saladin already has it. I may need to go straight for CS and then trade.

Normally I get macemen around 800 AD. Not this game!

 

[carl corey]

Have you checked the Military Advisor (or whatever that screen is called)? That's where you can see how much more experience is needed till your next Great General. I'll try to look at my two in-progress games when I get home to see when I got my first GGs. The second one is less relevant though, as I'm playing Cyrus (Imperialistic & Charismatic).

Anyway, just wanted to add that it seems hard indeed to keep up militarly with the AIs. I guess I'm in for a rude awakening once I move up a level or two. (playing on Prince right now) Keep up the good work, I'll surely learn something for when I decide to switch to Monarch!

 

[voek]

One would expect the 'saved' hammers on the wonder building would lead to a larger amount of troops and expansion. Is the small amount of troops a result of your warmongering? Your surroundings are a little grassland poor, but after you cut some jungle and cottage up you should recover.

The good thing from al these agg. civs is they are no real scientist and when you have crippled them, they won't be a danger from that point of view.

 

[Pete2006]

Have you checked the Military Advisor (or whatever that screen is called)? That's where you can see how much more experience is needed till your next Great General. I'll try to look at my two in-progress games when I get home to see when I got my first GGs. The second one is less relevant though, as I'm playing Cyrus (Imperialistic & Charismatic).

Anyway, just wanted to add that it seems hard indeed to keep up militarly with the AIs. I guess I'm in for a rude awakening once I move up a level or two. (playing on Prince right now) Keep up the good work, I'll surely learn something for when I decide to switch to Monarch!

I'll check that screen. I wasn't aware of it. It is normal for the AI to have a troop lead. However, they keep 4-7 units in each city and there is no threat of them sending their entire army against me so I don't worry about it.

 

[Pete2006]

One would expect the 'saved' hammers on the wonder building would lead to a larger amount of troops and expansion. Is the small amount of troops a result of your warmongering? Your surroundings are a little grassland poor, but after you cut some jungle and cottage up you should recover.

The good thing from al these agg. civs is they are no real scientist and when you have crippled them, they won't be a danger from that point of view.

I had to expand slowly because of the lack of commerce sites. This goes hand in hand with my troop issues. I never had the cash to afford a large standing army so I never built one. As soon as I figure out how to attack Khan, I'll start building a navy and larger army.

 

[aelf]

UB replaces walls which give new units +20% hills defense.

I'll build the walls so I can build castles later for the extra trade route. Otherwise, I'll would just skip it entirely.

I think an entire army with free Guerilla 1 can be quite scary. Given equal number and type of units on two sides, I'd definitely be happier to have the army that can move from hill to hill and worry even less about counter attacks when invading. Walls are cheap to build anyway.

The UU, though, is a very sad version of the one in C3C.

 

[carl corey]

I've checked my two Warlords games and here's what I found:

Shaka game: first Great General appeared at 800AD! Wow, I was sure I got it earlier than that... I've had three GGs so far, but I'm playing quite calmly, I could have probably finished it by now if I had been more careful.

Cyrus game: first Great General - 200BC. I guess the combination strong, early UU - Charismatic - Imperialistic pays off big time! On the other hand, Imperialistic turn out to be useless for Settler production, as I've built one city only and conquered all the rest.

 

[Pete2006]

Perhaps the Marathon speed is working against me on the GG generation.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=179718

 

[douglas_21]

Have you checked the Military Advisor (or whatever that screen is called)? That's where you can see how much more experience is needed till your next Great General. I'll try to look at my two in-progress games when I get home to see when I got my first GGs. The second one is less relevant though, as I'm playing Cyrus (Imperialistic & Charismatic).

Anyway, just wanted to add that it seems hard indeed to keep up militarly with the AIs. I guess I'm in for a rude awakening once I move up a level or two. (playing on Prince right now) Keep up the good work, I'll surely learn something for when I decide to switch to Monarch!

Wow, that reminds me of my own game. Cyrus/Prince. It's 695 AD and I give up. Crippling troop costs, plus matinence from two captured faraway cities I should have razed. Got a GG VERY early (Before 300 BC), but I was at war with Korea as soon as I found I had horses & they were close by. Man, archers that start with City Garrison I and Drill I are...almost invincible! Imagine trying to attack Churchill early game (Charismatic/Protective) Add that to walls, and fortify bonus...ouch. Then again, it was only my 2nd prince game. First one, I was all set up to send over a horde of berserkers, and I had declared war with the UU 3 turns away. Then, I learned I needed Civil Service AND machinery. So I lost that game too. I'm strong with builder strategies, but I always seem to mess up somehow when going on the military track. But taking over the world is WAY more fun than building just infrastructure.