Warmongering Builder demonstration game

[DarkFyre99]

I've always been tempted to do one of these demonstration games, and a recent thread seems to have compelled me to do so.

Bare with me as I try to demonstrate how a builder-type gamer goes to war.

The opening "round" is until about 25 A.D., as I prepare for...

WAR

First off, following the recommendation for a non-warmongering leader, I forgo my customary "random" leader choice, and chose:

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Willem Van Oranje. A pretty useless unique unit, and a late-game unique building.

Since I liked to be surprised, I chose my customary "shuffle" world. All other settings are plain BTS.

The starting location did not fill me with a lot of confidence.

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Ice to the Northwest. I'm clearly far to the north, in the Tundra zone. However, I do have a crabs, two furs, sheep, and a lot of rivers. Which is a good thing for this leader. I decide to settle in place. Given its' location, this may be a game where I move the capital.

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Initial build order was: workboat, worker, warrior, warrior, settler.

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Initial research order was: hunting and Animal Husbandry, to take advantage of the resources around my capital.

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My warrior I use for a scout, dropping potential city locations as I go. These will get refined as I reveal more of the map, and know where resources are.

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Finished Animal Husbandry, and I have Horses by my capital! Once they're connected, I'll be sending my settlers out with chariot escorts, who will then move on out to fogbust. Start researching wheel for those chariots, and then mining and bronzeworking. I also start meeting my neighbors.

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Tokugawa... the man has to die. He's absolutely worthless as a tech trading partner. I've got my first target. He's pretty far away, though, so no rush. I'll wait until after catapults.

I'm still exploring my immediate surroundings, and I find that MY LAND SUCKS!!! I'm going to have to spread out far to get workable city cites. Which means poor response times to invasions, and higher maintenance costs.

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to be continued... in several hours. Sorry, but church and lunch calls.

(edited to put images in spoiler tags)

 

[Bleys]

Willem Van Oranje. A pretty useless unique unit, and a late-game unique building.

On multiple landmass maps, his UU is actually very strong. It carries an extra unit, and can enter any AI land without needing Open Borders. The extra unit space alone is worth a ton though, as I am sure anyone who plays multi-landmass maps will tell you.

The UB is late, but if your games go that far, its big. Settling on a river is something I do now at Emperor level because the Levy is such a strong building. Willy can just settle on any water, ocean, river, lakes, whatever, and build his UB. Add in the fact that all water tiles get the hammer, and its usually good for a decent chunk of extra hammers per city. But it comes pretty late.

Willy is my favorite leader though, by far, mostly because I like the GLH types of maps, and he is very good on those.

 

[JBossch]

What difficulty are you playing?

Also, on fishing starts do you not think its better to work plains hills for the first WB? You will grow really fast once it grabs the crabs.

 

[DarkFyre99]

And back to posting the first round...

In the meantime, I had met two other Civs, Suryavarman and Charlemagne, and was beginning to worry that I was on a Pangea map... which is absolutely the worst kind of map for old Willem. When I met a fifth rival, my fears grew...

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I bumped up my espionage slider a notch, due to being unable to split four EPs five ways. I researched writing, and opened borders with everyone except my future victim, Tokugawa the isolationist. The lay of the land was also not helping me any. I ended up having to settle a very poor city in the tundra to get access to Copper.

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Meanwhile, I had decided on the specialities of my cities, which due to necessity were pretty far from my capital. Besides the resource city to the north, I had two good commerce cities along rivers, and a good production site near Japan for my Heroic Epic city. I was also researching Sailing so I could establish some trade routes with all these civs I was meeting.

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And then I met the last Empire, and I knew for certain that I was on a Pangea map. Curse you, RNG!!!! This is the absolute worst type of map for Willem!!! In addition, religions were starting to spread to me. I didn't bother changing to one, preferring to wait to see what the diplomatic situation would be like.

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Meanwhile, my starting Warrior picked a fight with a barbarian, and got Woodsman III. Which means that if I can get him home alive, I'll eventually have the lovely W3M3 Mash unit. But first, I still needed him to explore the territories my rivals on this super-continent. As soon as I located them, of course.

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My second band of settlers, weary from the unfortunately long journy to their new home, founded The Hague, my future Heroic Epic city, not far from the Japanese border. After taking the screenshot the first time, it occured to me to explain why I didn't settle two tiles to the south to get the Copper?

Besides being near to Kyoto, Tokugawa's capital, there was no way to get both the copper, and the food nearby. While Willem is Creative, and I was planning on taking his capital anyways, I saw little reason to found a low food city for the copper, or one tile to the east of there and not get fresh water. Where I settled had access to borth corn and cows, plus plenty of trees for chopping Heroic Epic and hills for mining.

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Meanwhile, I'd teched to Iron Working, and found that my future Oxford site had iron near it. Mmm... four flood plains to feed the population, Marble and Iron for production, and wine and silk to keep them happy.

After Tokugawa was slain, I was definitely moving my capital south out of the frozen wastelands to here.

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After securing Construction for catapults, I teched Alphabet so I could do some tech trading. Tokugawa was his usual obstinate self, having teched to Alphabet but refusing to trade with anyone, but I did manage to snag Archery for writing. Converting to Hinduism allowed me to bum Mysticism off of Huayna.

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A second trade with my good friend Huayna snagged me Monotheism and Priesthood for Mathematics. Ironically, the turn after converting, the gracious gods showed me were copper could be found in the hills near the Hague.

Having secured Priesthood, I would've immediately began researching Code of Laws for courthouses, if I hadn't forgotten to cue it up before heading to literature. This might've been a screw up, but it did allow Brennus to research CoL first, which worked out great, since he he converted to Confucionism soon afterwards.

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After I founded my future Oxford/Capital city, plus one a little farther north along the river, which as it grew stole the wheat from my poor, frozen (and now starving) copper city. Since I had marble, I decided to tech towards Literature, both for the Great Library, and to build the Heroic Epic in my military city.

And because I had Marble, I decided to build the Temple of Artemis in my capital. Not to actually get the Wonder, but because of the gold it would provide once another Civ built it, which would allow me to run 100% science for a while. I also whipped some courthouses

Here's where I ended the round, in 25 AD.

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As you can see, the continent is evenly split between the Hindu and the Buddhist religion, with Brennus all on his own lonesome following Confucious. With the exception of Tokugawa, they're all clustered along the south edge of this flattened-triange-shaped super-continent. And I'm at the apex!

My workers were finishing up connecting the initial resources, and will be heading towards The Hague in anticipation of chopping the Heroic Epic and bumping my power rating up a few notches as I geared up for war with Tokugawa. Six catapults, four swordsmen, my W3 warrior to act as a medic will make up the bulk of my assault force, and a team of two axemen and two spearmen will protect the stack as they advance and lay seige to Kyoto.

When Kyoto is taken, I'll raze Tokugawa's remaining cities (maybe turning the more souther ones over to Lincoln and Huayna to earn brownie points rather than razing it) and settle another two or three cities.

To be continued... tomorrow night, most likely.

 

[DarkFyre99]

Bleys,

I would've replied to you before posting the second half, but I thought I should show you the lay of the land before replying.

On multiple landmass maps, his UU is actually very strong. It carries an extra unit, and can enter any AI land without needing Open Borders. The extra unit space alone is worth a ton though, as I am sure anyone who plays multi-landmass maps will tell you.

As you can see, I'm on Pangea, which is what provoked the "useless" comment about Willem's unique unit. I agree that on a map with a large amount of water, the unit is great. This isn't that kind of map.

The UB is late, but if your games go that far, its big. Settling on a river is something I do now at Emperor level because the Levy is such a strong building. Willy can just settle on any water, ocean, river, lakes, whatever, and build his UB. Add in the fact that all water tiles get the hammer, and its usually good for a decent chunk of extra hammers per city. But it comes pretty late.

I agree.

Willy is my favorite leader though, by far, mostly because I like the GLH types of maps, and he is very good on those.

I absolutely agree with that. Some leaders do well on certain types of maps. Unfortunately, I've got a seafaring Civilization on a land-based map.

 

[DarkFyre99]

What difficulty are you playing?

Also, on fishing starts do you not think its better to work plains hills for the first WB? You will grow really fast once it grabs the crabs.

I'm playing on Prince, at epic speed.

As for fishing starts, I pretty much consider that strategy as six of one, half a dozen of another. Not to mention that working the sheep tile also gave me an extra commerce. And, of course, I usually let the A.I. manage which tiles my citizens work, while I micromanage what my workers build on them. Using the emphasize buttons usually gives me the tiles I'd want to be worked anyways.

 

[DarkFyre99]

Okay... taking up where I left off...

As of 25 AD, I have five cities, thanks to being stuck up here in the frozen North, far from any good land.

They are:

Amsterdam, my current capital and future production city.

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The Hague, my military production city

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Rotterdam, my future capital and Oxford city

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Nigmegen, a commerce city

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Utrecht, a frozen wasteland settled for the copper that'll be working the sea to pay for its upkeep. Primarily produces city garrisons.

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I also have four other cities planned

My Maori Statues city will go here

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Another commerce city will go here

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My future Great Person Farm, and perhaps Wall Street, will go here

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And another commerce city will go here (nice of Toku to build it for me )

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One of the first things I did was to send the full force of my mighty spy network at Tokugawa, so that the spy I was building can remove Kyoto's cultural and wall defenses, in order to surprise Toku and take his city before he can reinforce it.

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Because I have Marble, I am teching towards Literature, in order to get the Great Library AND the Heroic Epic, doubling my military production in the Hague...

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Food poor cap, but at least there's some .

 

[DarkFyre99]

Discovered Literature in 160 AD, and immediately began production of the Heroic Epic in the Hague:

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and the Great Library in Nijgenen:

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Thanks to some careful timing, I had two workers chopping forests nearby, who would finish that turn, greatly reducing the time needed to build it:

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I traded Code of Laws to my best buddy Huayna for Horseback Riding and some pocketchange, and secured Ivory from him too for a few of my own, giving me access to Elephants

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And traded with Lincoln, my other best buddy, for Calendar, since I would soon be needing it.

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My future victim was nice enough to build a wonder for me in Kyoto, and was kind enough to protect it with only two (Protective) archers

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I chopped out the Great Library in 460 AD, and soon war broke out between Sury and Brennus, ensuring that at least one of Tokugawa's Buddhist allies wouldn't be rushing to his aid. After whipping out a few more courthouses, I switched to Caste System. I founded my Maori Statue city in 490 AD, and soon my Stack of Death (tm) was ready to march on Kyoto:

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As my SOD advanced through Japanese territory, I moved my capital to Rotterdam. Unfortunately for me, my spy was discovered, which meant I had to go with an oldfashioned seige. As my army beseiged Kyoto, I snagged Metal Casting and Currency from Huayna and Brennus, respectively.

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As my catapults whittled down Kyoto's cultural defense, defenders came pouring into the city from all over, ensuring that the battle for Kyoto would be lively, but that was alright, because it allowed my own reinforcements to make it in time for the fight.

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My catapults assaulted the city, weakening the defenders, though the they took terrible damage in the meantime. Then I sent in my swordsmen to finish off the defenders, who were numerious indeed. In fact, Toku managed to get so many defenders into Kyoto, I had send in my swordsmen a second time, just to ensure that I would be able to hold the city after I'd taken it. In the end, my forces prevailed. Total cost: two catapults.

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[DarkFyre99]

After smashing Kyoto (and securing the Pyramids, which allowed me to switch to Representation, since the bulk of my units are earning their pay), my army paused to rest and refit, allowing my first Great General to catch up with the army, who I attached to my Woodsman Three Warrior, who I would use as cleanup duty to turn him into a super MASH unit

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My first Great Scientist emerged from the Great Library, and I used him to discover Paper, while I researched drama and Music for the great artist. I settled him in Kyoto, both to pop the borders, and for the extra gold and beakers. I might've been better off with using him for a Golden Age, but Kyoto's rapidly expanding borders allowed my Elephants to savage Tokugawa's attempt to retake the city.

Because I needed good defenders, I traded Civil Service for Feudalism from Huayna, and moved on towards Engineering for Trebuchets.

After my army healed and a few more catapults arrived, we attacked the very poorly placed Osaka, which we razed. The protective archers on a hill destroyed three of my catapults, but again I didn't lose any swordsmen, who were starting to acquire city raider III.

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After razing Osaka, my weary troops once again healed and got some more catapults, preparing for the assault on Kagoshima. On the way, I chopped out the Colossus in my old capital of Amsterdam. Kagoshima fell so quickly that I forgot to take a screenshot.

After liberating Kagoshima in the name of the glorious Dutch Empire, we marched on Tokyo, not even bothering to wait for reinforcements. Again those protective archers on a hilltop devestated my catapults, but I lost no other forces in the meantime.

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Tokyo was also poorly placed in my opinion, so I razed it and founded Neo-Tokyo a little to the north.

In the meantime, someone built the Hindu Apostolic Palace for me, and I used it to create trouble for my neighbor Brennus:

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Brennus, Brennus, Brennus... you'll pay for defying the Will of the Gods. But not right now, I have to finish destroying the Japanese.

By 1010 AD, the end of this round, I had easily razed another distant (and relatively new) Japanese city, leaving Tokugawa lonely Satsuma.

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I'll raze that city at the beginning of the next round.

 

[DarkFyre99]

Food poor cap, but at least there's some .

Yes, I didn't start out in a good location at all. And the only decent city locations were far from the original capital.

But at least I've got some good, high- food cities now. And they only cost me eight catapults.

 

[DarkFyre99]

Well, it seems like the in-duh-vidual I had primarily started this demo-game for is less than interested in improving his gameplay, but as I said, I've always wanted to try one of these things, and I'm having fun, and I know some people are reading this thing, so I'll continue...

Also, feel free to ask questions, especially of the "What the heck were you thinking?" variety.

I'm also starting to get a little too comfortable at Prince, so maybe it's time to bump up my level again.

And we're off. I would've had a lovely "Where we begin this round" montage, but I forgot to take the screenshots . So picture a lovely tour of my cities:

1. Amsterdam - My former capital and future Iron Works City
2. Utrecht - The lonely frozen city that performs almost no function to my Empire
3. The Hague - My Military city
4. Rotterdam - My new Capital and future Oxford city
5. Nijmegen - a commerce city and home to the Great Library
6. Middleburg - another commerce city
7. The City who's name I've forgotten, and isn't on any of my screenshots, but will be my Maori Statues city
8. Kyoto - the former capital of Japan, and my future GP farm and Wall Street City
9. Kagoshima - a commerce city
10. Neo Tokyo - another commerce city

Anyways, having smashed the newly founded Kobe, my Stack of Death marched upon Satsuma, the last bastion of refuge for the isolationist Tokugawa. My forces besieged the lonely city, with my elephants, confident that no force from the city could harm them, cut off the city from the north, to ensure that my approaching replacement catapults and trebuchets would be able to arrive unmolested.

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In the meantime, I built the Parthenon in Nijmegen and researched Philosophy, and securing the Taoism holy city in Nijmegen. Foolish Brennus begs me for help against the Americans, but it isn't quite time for my allies to die yet. I have another target in mind.

Finally, I get enough siege equipment to storm the city. I might've waited for a few more Trebuchets to arrive, or at least remove the last bit of cultural defense, but the nearest one was three turns away and I didn't want to gamble on Tokugawa remembering that "Hey! I'm protective, I should be building archers, not chariots!"

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He built two chariots while I battered down his walls.

My siege engines attack first, devastating his archers, at the cost of one catapult. My swordsmen made quick work of the defenders, and my Wood3, Medic1 MASH unit earned enough XP on cleanup to advance to Medic2. I also secured a second Great General, who I settled in The Hague for the XP.

My weary veterans return home to rest as I scope out my next victim. It didn't take long to settle on Brennus. He's close by for one, nobody likes him (unlike Charlemagne) and he's already at war with Lincoln. I only have one Trebuchet and Two catapults, so the Hague starts cranking out offensive units in anticipation for my next war.

As I examine Brennus' territory, I noticed that a resource city site seems to be unclaimed!

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Could it be that I can snag this city, obtaining stone and incense, plus an advanced base for the war? I begin production of a Settler, and turn to recovering my strained economy.

Huayna Capac comes begging for Literature, and I give it to him to keep him Friendly. It wasn't too long ago that I would deny such requests as a matter of course, but I've gotten a lot more comfortable manipulating diplomacy and trading techs.

Anyhoo... I get a another Great Scientist from the Great Library of Nijmegen, and I bulb him to almost finish education. I also do some more tech trades with Huayna Capac, acquiring Theology and Guilds and some cash for Music, Paper, and part of Engineering. I also complete the Sistine Chapel, greatly increasing the culture from my religious buildings... necessary to push my borders into Lincoln and Huayna's land.

I was sure that someone would beat me to it, but in the end I founded Delft, giving me access to stone and incense, and an advanced base for my future war with Brennus. Brennus' only sources of metal just happened to be in easy range of Delft, which does not bode well for Brennus.

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Meanwhile, Huayna founds Vilcabamba between the ruins of Kobe and Satsuma. Too bad it's almost completely worthless, as the tremendous cultural pressure coming from Kyoto steals its one source of food.

My growing Stack of Death, along with a massive army of workers, arrive at Deft, one to prepare for war, the other to hook up resources as quickly as possible.

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As I finish Liberalism, I trade Education to Huayna for Divine Right (for the Spiral Minaret) and a huge chunk of change, and Philosophy for Banking, and what pocket change he has left. I select Nationalism for my bonus tech.

I also remember I have extra resources I could've been trading to to others for gold. oops I also get some disappointing news. I had been hoping that Lincoln would ask for help with Brennus, but instead, after losing two of his cities, he sues for peace. So I delay my war for a bit.

Kyoto, both as GP farm and my primary source of cash, is coming along nicely, as my workers return to the town to chop out the library and National Epic. I'm rather fond of Great Merchants, and I frequently pair up National Epic and Wall Street.

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My preparations for war complete, and Lincoln's peace treaty with Brennus almost expired, I attack. My siege engines easily strip away Brennus' defensive walls.

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But before I could continue my assault, and raze the city to the ground, an unwelcome sight arrives.

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Brennus' own stack of death. Fortunately for me, it was mostly horse archers and catapults. It cost me my two catapults and an axeman, but the stack was soon wiped out. The next turn, my trebuchets ripped apart the city defenders, and my swordsman and medic unit destroyed the defenders. They tore down their buildings, sowed their soil with salt, and returned to my cultural lands to heal.

Meanwhile, the Nijmegen produced a Great Artist, who I used for a Golden Age. My GP farm soon yielded an unexpected bonus, thanks to the presence of the Pyramids: a Great Engineer, which I used to build Verseille in Kyoto. I used the Apostolic Palace to return New York to Lincoln (defying these edicts must have been costly in terms of happiness) and tried to return the city Sury lost to Brennus as well, but Brennus once again thumbed his nose at the gods.

I also sell Paper to Charlemange for a heft chunk of gold.

Far in the North, Amsterdam completes the Spiral Minaret, and begins construction of the Taj Mahal.

As this round ends in 1350 AD, my SOD approach Brennus' only other source of metal. Once that city is burned to the ground, they will turn south, to acquire some more valuable land.

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[Bleys]

Well, it seems like the in-duh-vidual I had primarily started this demo-game for is less than interested in improving his gameplay, but as I said, I've always wanted to try one of these things, and I'm having fun, and I know some people are reading this thing, so I'll continue...

Heck ya, continue, you're doing a very good job. Well written, includes thought lines, etc. I hope you do another, you handle the games mechanics pretty well, are you a Monarch-Emp player normally? I didnt read all the posts, so I am not sure if you mentioned it, but if your not playing Monarch at least, you should consider moving up.

EDIT: Oops, see, there I go, just read the line where you mention you are feeling a little comfy at Prince. Try some Monarch Light games, where the AIs start with Archery, but the Barbs dont.

 

[DarkFyre99]

EDIT: Oops, see, there I go, just read the line where you mention you are feeling a little comfy at Prince. Try some Monarch Light games, where the AIs start with Archery, but the Barbs dont.

Yep... it's definitely getting a little too comfortable at Prince for my comfort. If you can easily win a very bad starting starting location (and there's no doubt in my mind that I've won... I just have put in the effort to make it official) then it's time to bump it up a level.

"Monarch Light?"

What is that, a normal game with Tech brokering turned off? (which hampers the AI... the one thing it excels at?)

 

[DarkFyre99]

The latest round, which I shall call "the Fall of Brennus"

We'll start this round with a look at my City Summery Screen...

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11 cities is a little low for this time in the game, but in a more favorable start, I would've had at least two cities between Amsterdam and my "first ring" cities, and probably a city to the north as well.

My former capital Amsterdam is definitely going to be my Ironworks city. I've built waterwheels along the river there anticipating switching to State Property (I normally switch to Free Market, and found corporations like crazy), but I'm going to try for a Conquest victory this game. I've never won with this victory condition before, so any advice on how to win a Conquest victory over Domination, beyond the obvious... razing everything in sight?

The Hague remains my military production city. It is currently building defensive units, to support my Stack of Death as it captures Brennus' empire.

My capital at Rotterdam is still waiting for enough Universities to be built to build Oxford University.

Kyoto, unable to build Wall Street, is building Ankor Wat for the gold due to being unable to complete a Wonder. (This works for a national wonder as well... as my cities finish their infrastructure, they'll start building, but not finishing, the Hermitage.)

Last but not Least is Maastricht, who's building the Maori Statues, since it is the city with the most Coastal tiles.

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Here is my financial screen. As you can see, my Civics upkeep is well beyond my city maintenance costs. Likewise, the number of my cities is almost twice of my distance costs. Of course, my army is my second largest expense, but at least they're out earning their pay.

At any rate, my troops assault lonely Isca and follow the customary tactic...

1) bombard the city's defenses to zero
2) send in the seige engines, from least XP (the most expendable) to the most XP (the most valuable). I lose one trebuchet... the first into the breach.
3) send in the foot troops (still swordsmen at this point) to clean up.

We raze the city, since it's worthless.

Meanwhile, Brennus sends a stack to harrass Delft. It is mostly elephants, with a catapult. I think he was planning on attacking the city itself. But the two pikemen I left in the city destroy the stack, but not before razing the road connecting the stone. (It took a while, because I forgot to bring a medical chariot to Delft. Always make sure that those things are near your borders, not deep within your empire!)

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Kyoto turns out another Great Merchant, and being in Merchantilism means I won't get much gold on a trade mission. I settle him in the city. Each settled Great Merchant provides one food along with six gold (and 3 beakers and two culture, thanks to Representation and the Sistine Chapel), so two GMs add an additional merchant, free of charge!

As my troops lay seige to Camu something or under, my little sister has an emergency, and drops off my nephew for the night, so I end my game for that day. There was much rejoicing among the Celts...

The next day, after realizing at work that I've been forgetting certain things, I resume this round.

First, I forgot to invite Lincoln into my little war. Surely he'd want to recapture New York, at least?

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Lincoln... you disappointed me! Fine... I'll smash his empire on my own, including New York. And since it'll be worthless if it's mostly surrounded by your culture...

I also renegotiate the gold I'm getting for spare resources, giving me 8 more gold per turn in the process.

While my troops lay seige to Camu-whatisname, Brennus keeps sending troops to harrass Delft... mounted troops.. My pikemen make sort work of each attack. Of course, there was no doubt of Camulodunum's fate. My troops take the city, losing only another two trebuchets, and turn next to Verlamion.

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As they bombard the city's defenses, Amsterdam completes the Taj Mahal, beginning another Golden Age!

My troops take Verlamion, losing another two trebuchets, and after healing, march on Gergovia. I was tempted to wait for replacement trebuchets to arrive, but it's a long way from the Hague, and the city is a natural choke point. If it falls, the cities I've taken from Brennus will be safe, now that Lincoln had rejoined the war.

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I leave a large number of musketmen than I'd intended, to suppress revolts, as the city builds Hindu buildings to push back American culture. My troops, with only four trebuchets, settles in for a long seige of Gergovia's castle. Since a trebuchet can reduce a castle's defense only 4% per turn, it'll take at least six turns before I'll be ready to attack. During that time, Brennus is pooring defenders into the city. It's going to be an ugly seige.

As the seige grinds away, I see I'm very close to completing Chemistry. I bump up my slider to 100%, and I'm still just a hair away from completing it in that turn. So I see if I can get any other beakers...

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Amsterdam's hammers were all it took. Too bad I forgot to stop producing hammers for several turns afterwards...

Finally, my trebuchets batter down the castle walls, and my troops are ready for the assault against Brennus' sixteen defenders.

Sixteen defenders, while I'd only brought my four trebuchets.

Sixteen defenders, to be destroyed by my six swordsmen and four macemen.

Sixteen defenders? And Brennus is fighting a war on two fronts?

This is going to be ugly!

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Three Longbowmen, an archer, two trebuchets, and the rest are mounted units????

And me with two pikemen, two spearmen, and three elephants???

Oh, Brennus... you make this too easy!

My trebuchets open the assault, heavily damaging the defending Longbowmen. I only lose two!

That's when I realize that... hey, my super-MASH unit went up a level, and I didn't notice!!! I quickly give him the Medic III promotion. He heals 40% a turn... at a minimum! But they sure take a lot more work than Medic III chariots!

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[DarkFyre99]

my troops Assault Gergovia, and once again there is no doubt about the outcome. Brennus has too few Longbowmen, and too many mounted units. We take the city losing a swordsman and an maceman in the process, since I sent the lower-XP ones in first, hoping they'd earn their City Raider III promotions (so that I can upgrade them to CRIII riflemen or Infantry)

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With only two trebuchets, my assault must pause and wait for the trebuchets being built in the Hague. Unfortunately, a few had to be diverted to take care of a Celtic city off my Eastern border... at least if I wanted to build any tile improvements on the eastern bank of Kagoshima's river.

I'll need quite a few trebuchets, because my next target is that shining jewel of the Celtic Empire...

Spoiler :

Bibtrace... and you can tell how rarely I use State Property, because I was planning on building the Forbidden Palace there. One of these days, I'll have to take down that note.

Brennus is ready to capitulate to me at this point, but I don't want a vassal. I want his land for my own. He has a lovely holy city, and I mean to make it mine... along with his capital, and his other two cities.

Lincoln, tired of war, once again sues for peace with Brennus. Did he accomplish anything?

Spoiler :

No. The idiot assaulted one of Brennus' cities, and lost it the next turn. If you had just taken that city, I could've turned my attention to Sury instead.

Finally, I research Steam Power, and start building dikes all over. Finally, Utrecht will be good for something besides wasting money!

I also examine the best way to attack Bibtrace, once those trebuchets arrive. I want at least ten to assault Brennus' capital.

Spoiler :

While waiting, Huayna Capac manages to steal the Apostolic Seat from me! Lincoln, who had always voted for me before, votes for the other guy! Are you trying to make yourself my next target??? Lincoln's more advanced then Brennus, so I divert from the democracy line for Steel... and cannons. Trebuchets will be obsolete in the next war.

Meanwhile, Brennus throws troops against my army at Gregovia. My lone rifleman fortified in the city earns his City Garrison III promotion in the process.

Spoiler :

I finish researching Constitution, and immediately queue up Jails in all my war-weary cities. At the same time, I finally have enough trebuchets for my assault of Bibtrace. My stack of 39 units (including 11 trebuchets, and those knights who'll catch up after the deal with that chariot ) begin their long march to the heart of Celtia.

Spoiler :

I also make my last tech trade with Huayna. I don't want him too advanced, after all, because I'll probably take him after Lincoln.

Spoiler :

As my troops advance on Bibtrace, Brennus makes a feeble attempt to take Gergovia. My CGIII rifleman doesn't break a sweat.

And as my army crosses the river to begin the seige, they start a sequence that I could do in my sleep...

1) Bombard city defenses with seige engines

Spoiler :

2) Attack with seige engines (least XP -> most XP). I lose four trebuchets (all new units). Thankfully, Bibtrace wasn't on a hill, or I would've lost more. Those Dun promoted CGIII longbowmen do a lot of damage! I also earn another Great General, who I'll use to create a Medic III chariot, so that I can have a second Stack of Doom for the next war.

Spoiler :

3) Attack with city raider troops. (A knight had to kill the final defender.)

Spoiler :

Sheesh! Now I know where all those CGIII Longbowmen came from! And I now have my second military city, after I build dikes, a forge, and a barracks, of course. Definitely no Forbidden Palace here! The question is whether I want to build West Point here or the Hague. On the one hand, I can get 17XP from this city with WP and either another settled Great General, the Pentagon, or a civics change. On the other hand, I can keep things they way they are now, and get 11XP units from both cities, and use my next Great General for a Military Acadamy to speed production.

Brennus is almost dead, and once my Medic III chariot and a few cannon arrive, I'll be splitting my stack of doom into two. The greater one will turn north and east to take Brennus two cities, while the lesser one will turn south for his holy city.

Brennus... you're days are numbered.

Lincoln... if you want to live a little longer... take New York! Because if you make me take it...

 

[DarkFyre99]

Well... as is usual with me once I think I've won the game, inertia begins to set in. But I'm determined that my first public game, and last Prince game, will be an official win... and a conquest victory as well. I'm very curious to see the conquest movie.

When I left off last round, I'd just taken Bibtrace from Brennus, and seeing how many settled Great Generals are in the city, I decided to make it my second unit production city. The Hague remains the first one, and begins construction of West Point. When I get the Pentagon, and switch civics, I'll be getting level 5 units from both cities.

Spoiler :

As my stack rests and refits, I split it in two. The smaller one led by my Medic III chariot moves south to Tolosa to capture Brennus' holy city. The larger one led by my Woodsman III, Medic III super-healer moves north Durnovaria and Vienne.

I research Democracy and begin construction of the Statue of Liberty in Amsterdam. I begin researching Railroad to facilitate the movement of units over this huge continent. The same turn, a party of archaeologists searching the ruins of Osaka turn up a cache of scrolls, halving my research time. This is why I normally don't build over ruins. I think this is also the first time I've actually succeeded in spending extra money for a chance at more research.

Meanwhile, Suryavarman II sees the writing on the wall, and begs me to spare his pitiful nation in exchange for becoming my loyal subject. I agree. It is only much later that I realized that this might screw up my Conquest victory. Oh well...

Spoiler :

It doesn't take too long for Tolosa and Durnovaria to fall. As I marched on Vienne, Lincoln realizes that he might want to retake New York after all. Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, all those wonders I'd build yields fruit: a Great Prophet. I send him down to Kyoto to wait for another Great Person to emerge from the city, so I can have a golden age once I've finished Assembly Line, to speed production of the Pentagon, and ensuring a riot-free multi-civic switch at the end.

Finally, Vienne falls, and Brennus is no more. Since I've taken Sury into my protection, it's time to connect the two halves of my empire by removing the eyesore in the way: Lincoln and America. Not to mention that American cultural pressure is the source of constant revolts in Durnovaria, which I now wish I'd razed, and needing a large garrison in Vienne and Verlamion... another city I should've razed.

*sigh*

And the game gets tedious. There's nothing more boring, but completely necessary, than connecting your empire with railroads. Because Lincoln's in the way, I also connect up Lincolns cities as well, to speed reinforcements, garrison units, and spies during the coming war. My massive espionage advantage gives me line of sight from everyone's cities except Charlemagne.

*sigh*

Kyoto, which had started building Wall Street, produced yet another another Great Merchant. And I wait for Assembly Line to finish before starting that Golden Age. I'm building many several factories and coal plants, plus the Pentagon, so I want as many hammers as possible. I also zero out my science slider for the 5000 gp necessary to upgrade all my City Raider III troops to Infantry for the war with Lincoln... who only has muskets.

As I prepare for war, I regain the Apostolic seat, thanks to Huayna switching to Free Religion. Now I don't have to worry about Huayna interfering with my destruction of Lincoln.

Finally, Kyoto completes construction of Wall Street, and my merchants return to their counting houses to make tons of gold for me. Pre-biology, Kyoto can support 12 merchants.

Spoiler :

It is at this point that I realize that I forgot to trade for Scientific Method, so that Communism would be complete before my golden age is finished.



Dammit, I hate stupid mistakes...

I do, however, find out that I have six sources of Oil in my borders... almost the entire world's supply! I think there's one on the island chain Sury discovered. It seems weird not exploring the world on my own, not to mention not trying for the Circumnavigation bonus.

Nearly finishing my war preparations, I search Lincoln's cities for his Stack of Death. Guess where I found it?

Spoiler :

Since I had to minimize the interface to see it all, for the record Lincoln's SOD is far, far to the north. Destroying that stack is going to be my first priority, so I shift my main SoD from Verlamion, where I'd planned to attack Philadelphia in the west, while my lesser SoD takes Seattle in the East, where cultural pressure from Kyoto (thank you Sistine Chapel enhanced specialists) has pushed right up to the city.

Spoiler :

The Main would turn south, taking New York, Washington, Boston, and San Francisco, while my lesser one would turn North, taking Houston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Instead, my main SOD moves north to destroy the bulk of Lincoln's army in Los Angeles, and would move south while the lesser moved west.

Unfortunately, I'm so impatient for this game to be over, I overlook two key strategic advantages. Try to guess what they were...

Having secured the Pentagon, I set a few of my cities producing garrison units (9xp garrison units!) while the Hague produces 17xp Cannon! 17 XP Cannon means I can start specializing my cannons: Bombard (CR III + accuracy), initial assault (CR III... my veteran units), and Barrage (Combat I + barrage III).

Following the original plan, the assault goes as usual for a late-game war:

My spies (I have two in the city, in case one gets discovered or fails) puts the city into revolt, ensuring that it has no cultural defense.

My three bombard cannon, not having to batter down the defenses, and the city being under-defended, rest.

Two of my veteran cannon (most at 12-14 xp... less experienced than new recruits!) make the initial assault, savaging the defenders while taking little damage themselves. My two new 17 xp Barrage III cannon follow up and inflict horrid casualties in the process. Then my foot troops attack, making sure I let my Medic III chariot kill the last defender for the XP. As is customary when taking a city, I hit my "essential buildings" hot key (key 0): granary, forge, and the espionage buildings.

Spoiler :

And in the north, my stack moves in to attack, and only then do I realize I goofed again.

What's wrong with this picture?

Spoiler :

Answers below... the first time in this thread that I've used the spoiler tag for its intended purpose.

Spoiler :

1) My stack attacked from the South-West, rather than the North-East, where my culture touches the city... meaning it had to cross one tile of America's culture. That gave Brennus' SoD a chance to attack, rather than having to defend itself from siege engines and city-raider promoted infantry. It was a very nervous time, as knight after knight attacked my stack, and my stack defenders went from three soldiers, to two soldiers, to one soldiers... and the knights kept coming.

This mistake cost me one stack-defender Infantry unit. It could've cost me a lot more.

2) I failed to send a team of spies to the city, so I'll have to batter down the city's defenses before I can even attack.

My battered stack rests a turn to heal (thank you super-medic!) before attacking. Despite this mistake, the attack itself was fairly predictable, and I razed Los Angeles, then turn south, taking Chicago. It is only afterwards that I remember I'm trying for a conquest victory, and I don't want to too much land, and I already own 50% of available land... oops

Meanwhile, my agents caught spies all over my empire. The only one who escaped was the one who poisoned the well in the Hague. Because of all the trees I'd saved for West Point (which I forgot to chop out), the city only lost 10 food out of the granary.

For some reason, I can now investigate every American city. I wonder why.

I make what is likely to be the last civics change this game. I revolt to State Property. Behold, the power of Fascism (i.e. Police State, Vassalage, Caste System, State Property, Theocracy) in a production center!

Spoiler :

My two stacks move west, razing every city we take. I stop producing garrison units and start producing gold, allowing me to crank my science slider up to 100%, while remaining in positive gold. I earn my next Great General in the process... settling him in Amsterdam, so I can produce level 4 Infantry there.

Razing Atlanta and Houston, I take, and decide to keep, New York, in an effort to keep Lincoln's lands from being resettled. I also decide to keep Washington, who has 3 settled Great Generals there. Add a stable, and I'll have 17xp cavalry. Or I can settle my next Great General here. Boston, who has the the Hanging Gardens, I'll keep as well.

My hordes of spies burn through my accumulated EPs, and I soon lose the ability to investigate American cities. But IIRC, these points are lost anyways when Lincoln is dead, so it's a case of use 'em or lose 'em.

As main SoD arrives at Philadelphia, Bibtrace, infrastructure complete, finally produces its first unit for me.

Spoiler :

(For some reason, I lost half the screenshots I'd uploaded, right before I was going to post, so I had to find and upload them again )

 

[DarkFyre99]

Last round, I had ended the round just as my main SoD approached Philadelphia. The outcome is predictable: spy neutralizes defenses, cannons damage defenders, and infantry mops up. The city falls, and is razed.

A few turns later, and I finish Biology. I immediately head to Kyoto to add a few more merchants.

Spoiler :

219 gold, simply from merchants, settled great merchants, and a few coins from the Spiral Minaret. It's enough to support my sprawling empire while keeping the science slider at 90%. Building gold in science cities allows me to run at 100%, despite my huge size.

Of course, I don't get a great merchant from Kyoto this time... I get a Great Engineer. I save him for later use.

My troops attack washington, and once again the usual formula works its magic. Washington falls, and will become my third military city.

Spoiler :

Boston falls to my forces, securing the Hanging Gardens for my own use. Portland falls, and gets razed.

As my forces march on the last American city, San Francisco, I check the victory screen.

Spoiler :

I own 60.75% of the land, and I need only 64% to win. Neither Washington or Boston are out of revolt yet, which means a Domination win is inevitable.

The same turn, I get to choose the topic of the next Apostolic Palace vote.

I chose "back door domination" aka Diplomatic Victory via beating up anyone who won't vote for you.

Spoiler :

I would like to thank my family for putting up with my marathon sessions of CIV this last week; my hips for not putting on weight because I wasn't going to the health club; my other hobbies for donating the time necessary to play a quick game of CIV and write up what happens (and fanfiction... you really owed me for National Novel Writer's month. If anyone likes Ranma/Sailor Moon fanfiction, I use this same name on fanfiction.net); those of you who actually read this thread; and Civilization Fanatics for giving us so much storage space for screen shots.

Now, I'm going to start my first Monarch game!

Oh, and PreLynMax, just in case you're reading this...

There's nothing wrong with the game mechanics. The game is quite winnable, especially at noble/prince, assuming you:

1) place your cities well, with an eye for quality over quantity

2) learn how to play the map

3) specialize your cities

4) learn the basics of diplomacy and tech trading

5) learn the basics of warfare and espionage

6) learn how civics affect your Civilization