Hello!
I've been lurking at RB for over a year, but this is my first report. I've been in two or three SGs over at CivFanatics also as "badgerpendous." I typically play Prince and have a fun time, so I'm hoping I don't have too much trouble with this one... (Famous last words!)
Adventure Twenty
I've been playing Warlords exclusively for several months, so this will be a challenge, trying to remember what vanilla was like. Oh, and combine that with the fact that I've been trying a Cultural Conquest victory variant for the last few months (no barbs! ... and no luck so far), and I can tell I'll have to get my "civ" legs back.
On to the game...
Settled on the spot and started Meditation and Warrior, since I didn't have any useful worker techs.
Warrior popped Agriculture from the first hut (switched build to Worker) and then got 98 gold from the second (western) hut. I like that starting luck!
Meditation (adopt Buddhism) -> Mining (I want to get to Bronzeworking and also use the four hills in Mecca). Mining -> Polytheism (first of many suboptimal choices, I'm sure. I find that I often don't formulate a plan early enough in games, and tend to just wander the tech tree at some points...)
Met Fredrick in 3120 (my scouting warrior is harassed by Lions for centuries). And then my fortified-in-a-jungle warrior was killed by a lion. Polythesim -> Bronze Working. Warrior -> Warrior
Warrior -> Buddhist Monastery till size 3 -- then start a settler (to be helped along with a forest chop).
I spotted a nice place for a city over by the Marble to the east, but the rest of the civs are west and south... I suppose there's plenty of time for domination once I get my affairs in order... So I settle pretty much away from the competition:
Replacement warrior defeated a lion, healed, popped a scout from a hut, and met Napoleon. Not a bad couple of turns! I was hoping to get a scout out there, so this helps. Met Catherine in 2560.
Bronze Working -> Masonry (hoping to found Jud. in my second city...) Bronze at the capital... Too late for an early axerush, I don't even know where anyone else's cities are! It is at times like this that I find myself thinking of the many times Sullla has mentioned the need for scouting. More scouting!
A series of two frustrating misclicks has me reload from autosave (I hate it when I click "build a road" instead of "go to"...)
Masonry -> Monotheism (which finishes in 1290 and is founded in Medina (Medina is working on Stonehenge for the Prophet points. I'll go with Priesthood and Marble-fueled Oracle here as well)) -> Priesthood
Spread Buddhism to Medina and cranked out an axe or two for garrison duty.
Found horses right there in Medina... "There I was walking along and suddenly horses just sprang up from the ground!" -- Frightened Peasant
Finally met Washington in 1040BC.
With Writing in, I'm still thinking about scouting. I signed some open borders shortly thereafter (Writing -> Code of Laws). My second settler was almost done, and I decided to try to grab a nice Floodplains site in the middle of the map and cottage the heck out of it. I had toyed with the idea of NOT chasing any religions myself, and instead concentrate on building floodplain cottages and an early army, but I'm so focused on religions and spreading them thanks to the Cultural Conquest quest mindset I've developed...
Hooked up the horses and built a few chariots for Barb patrol.
Founded Damascus by the gold and cows and floodplains directly south of Mecca in 875BC (pretty late for a third city, I suppose).
825BC. I'm out of money and can no longer run 100% science. I was hoping I'd coast to Code of Laws (founded in Damascus, of course), research pottery, and then go nuts with cottages, but it looks like I may have been off in my calculations. No matter, 90% science is just about as good.
Well well well. Like clockwork, in 775BC:
- Code of Laws came in, and was founded in Damascus (which was trying for the Parthenon for the extra GPs or the cash parting gifts).
- Oracle finished in Medina, and the next Hard Choice: Which free tech? Most people have a plan by now, and heck, even I usually have sorted out something by now, but in this game, I haven't decided just how soon I want to go crazy with the domination quest. I could take Philosophy and get another religion (and then nab Theocracy via my first prophet!), or I could go for Civil Service and Beaurocracy! Tough calls!
I'm going with Civil Service. I don't need all of these religions. I need money and power...
It's 775BC and I'm the only civ with a religion. I've had open borders for a while, but no traderoutes...
And of course, 700BC and suddenly Catherine and Napoleon each get state religions (Hind and Conf, respectively) and so I'll need to ditch my state religion and start to worry about relationships.
600 BC Moses born in Medina. Now, I could still take Theology, as I'm at +1 gold at 80% science, and only have a couple of Buddhist cities. Besides Theocracy is a great tech to trade. So I do. Alphabet due in 6 turns, and my first cottages are coming on line. Christianity founded in Damascus. Damascus is a desert oasis, pumping out a lot of culture (11 per turn) and once I get the cows and gold online, I'll have at least _some_ production. Probably not enough to land the Parthenon (turns out I'm able to complete the wonder after all), though. Maybe I should be concentrating on building an army now...
475 BC Spotted Kassite (Barbarian) off to the west and so I sent a few war chariots to get my fourth city. Should be a piece of cake (FLW). Captured Kassite and a free worker in 375BC. Tried to work some trades for IronWorking, but I wasn't quite ready to give up Code of Laws or Alphabet for it. Soon, though.
About 125, Fredrick built the Pyramids. I was spreading some religions (still positive at 80% science) and pushing toward machinery. I went with cats and maces to see if I couldn't take out a weak neighbor. I sent a chariot out to scout to the west (Catherine). Oh and I traded Code of Laws to Catherine for IronWorking, Sailing, and Archery -- and discovered iron at Damascus.
100BC, Mahariva heads to Mecca to build the Buddhist shrine. I converted Fredrick to Buddhism, so hopefully I can get some extra money. Sending Buddhism to Washington next. On the turn my Buddhist missionary arrived in Washington's lands, he converted to Confucianism. Looking back on this, I suppose I should be glad. I wouldn't want to create a Buddhist block, just to have to tear it apart...
Time for some war...
I spent until 500AD, building up an army and researching Currency and Construction. I built the Hindu shrine to offset some of the cost but by now my army was costing me a LOT. I had to make a move soon. In the mean time, everyone but Catherine converted on their own to Buddhism (I sent two missionaries, total, and one of them was to at-the-time Confused Washington. So, with Catherine the founder of Taoism (and it appears she lacks metals, because all I see are archers and chariots), she was the perfect choice. My troops rallied in Kassite and prepared to march into the unsuspecting Russian lands.
I managed to take Novgorod easily (maybe too easily...). I was left wondering how long until she would upgrade to Longbowmen.
In 700 AD I realized I was running Organized Religion with no state religion. ;)
Took Moscow in 800AD, still no Longbows...
In 860, Washington declared war on Catherine unprompted. Poor Catherine, she's through dealin' -- even if I do spot the first War Elephant. I hope to take St. Pete's, as it's the Taoist holy city, then opt for peace and repair my battered economy and shore up my defenses for the sneak attack that I think Fredrick is planning (I stopped trading with him at Napoleon's request eons ago, and he just never got over it, sigh).
In 940AD, I took St. Petersberg and then demand Philosophy for peace. I took a silly detour to Music when I noticed the artist was still available. Then on to paper. I have a scientest from the Great Library waiting Mecca. He'll lightbulb the rest of Paper (4 turns) or I can hold him for Education (well, part of it anyway), so I suppose I'm off to the Liberalism race. Maybe a Chemistry/Steel run for Grenadier and Cannon fueled Domination?
Two turns later and Catherine comes to me for open borders. This is great, because I had about two-thirds of my army trapped behind her culture and an unfortunately placed mountain. Now my GA can get to Saint Petersburg to do his thing. I also trade for Monarchy, because I can.
In 980, Pop Another One (TM) in Mecca (another copper) and I don't mind at all losing the race for Chichen Itza. I'm losing 35 per turn at 90% (looks like I need a few more cities!). Still, a long way to go for domination. I need to break up the religious block, or take them all on at once. Oh, and then pop Silver at Kassite!
1050, Education in, and Liberalism in 11 turns at 90% (but I won't have enough in the bank to make it. I'll have to rearrange some cities...) Need to get a GP for Taoism...
My empire:
Central:
Eastern:
Western:
Built the Taoist Shrine in St. Petersburg in 1140, during a building/missionary spam cycle. I have the Heroic epic way over in Medina and I'm alternating between missionaries and military, since I feel somewhat exposed over there. In Mecca, we're building wonders and the National Epic. With Liberalism 1 turn away, I take a look to see if I can squeeze in Guilds (I have 4 holy cities, so I get to build 4 markets) and/or Gunpowder. Looks like I have plenty of time (Paper is still a monopoly!) so I dial down research to 70% and grab Guilds.
Pop Another One (Silver in Medina). Jewish shrine from a Prophet from Mecca, even though I haven't done too much to spread it. Guilds -> Gunpowder. Catherine again closes borders and so my western cities are again unconnected. I consider building a galley just to ferry workers and missionaries.
Washington finally founds Islam in New York in 1340. Chemistry in 3, then Liberalism in 1.
Liberalism -> Steel (free). Also, Fredrick FINALLY is willing to talk to me, so I sell him Literature for 150 gold and prepare to renew the attack on Catherine.
Liberalism -> Banking -> Economics (I can still use the GM for a trade mission, right? Check rules... Right!)
Building cannons and grenadiers (and a bank in Mecca) and getting ready to stomp Catherine.
I always get so carried away in the building phase that I neglect the actual act of going to war. My GM nets 1300 gold from Washington, and I upgrade a few CR Macemen to Grenadiers and notice that it's already 1490AD. Have to get to work! Oh, and speaking of neglecting, I completely forgot to build any Camel Archers. I typically skip over Horseback Riding. Oops.
With only 10 cities, I was doing an ok job of keeping science running. But I figured I didn't need to go much further on the tech tree, if I planned on just hammering out a Domination win. Of course, I was wrong.
Here's the religious situation:
Built a few more rifles and cannons and declared war on Napoleon. He only has longbows and maces, and I take the first couple of cities on the first turn. I'm keeping one eye on Fredrick, since he's also Buddhist, and has Rifles. Were "even" in diplomacy +3 and -3, but I'm keeping some troops back just in case.
1755 the war with Napoleon was almost over. Popped another one: Iron. 1800 War with Napoleon over. He managed to create one musketeer, but it was far too little, too late. Next was the "incorporate and shore up the new cities and territory" phase -- sending a ton of missionaries, building theaters and libraries and flip-prevention garrisons.
In 1814, I was at 55% of Land Area. Washington and I had been getting along for pretty much the whole game. Fredrick... Well, I'd much rather take him out to get my last 13% of Land Area (actually, I figured that cultural boundaries would expand to grab a few more percent). But Washington's land was perfect (cities in a nice neat row, making easy to cover the whole front). Fredrick had a big blob of country smack dab in the middle of the map, with a long front. Power? Washington was slightly behind and refused to be bribed into ceasing trading or declaring war on Fredrick. At this point, it was purely a matter of time, but did I want to take the quicker road through Washington, or take out Fredrick and take even longer? Whoa! I'd been playing around so long that I didn't notice that Fredrick had Infantry! I didn't even have Astronomy. That, and despite having over 15 troops in Paris, it flipped to the Germans. Looks like I'll have to try to take out Washington after all. Sorry George! Nothing personal.
I threw caution to the wind in 1836 and declared war on Washington, attacking three cities simultaneously. I needed to get just 11% more of the Land Area. But it was a half-hearted war. Poor George...
In 1848 Fredrick declared war on me. The fact that he didn't have any troops in attack position, makes me think Washington bribed him into it. Strangely, I had been moving my troops through his cities at the time and two of my stacks popped up right next to exposed German cities on the back lines, and so I grabbed two cities right off the bat. I figured the rest of that battle would be bloody. He had infantry, and I was still 4 turns away from getting them. I had $4k saved up for upgrades, but 4 turns felt like an eternity. Washington wouldn't talk, so I'd have to wait to get out of the war with him, but I did pull my troops back from the offensive. I wonder if I should have let them continue pressing and hope for that magical 68% Land Area?
Washington handed me 110 gold for peace in 1854, so I found myself back facing that long war with multiple fronts against Fredrick. I'd taken two of his cities and killed about twenty of his troops so far. Also, I was just one turn away from Assembly Line (unfortunately, I had only 3600 gold left for upgrades, as I upgraded many troops to Machine Guns on my poorly defended eastern front. Still, that was a good chunk of money, and it was time to get the last 5 or 6% that I needed for the win.
I'm a slowpoke -- I certainly won't win any "fastest finish" competitions, but at least I'm having fun! :)
I devised a plan for some revenge. Retaking Paris. Fredrick was only keeping a few troops there, and I was still feeling the sting of having the city flip before.
I quickly put together a stack and set out. I figured Paris would have a better chance of staying mine this time, since all of the land around it was at least partially mine. Oh, and another note. I neglected to bother switching civics in order to get more exp for my units. Being so used to Warlords where I know I'll end up with a Great General or three and use them, I didn't bother with switching civics... So, I've been waging these wars with single-promoted units.
I teched through to Artillery, just in case, but like most games, I started my wars too late, and kept up too long. Anyway, once Artillery was in, I set the culture slider up, the research down, and set back to coast through my last few percentage points. I took Paris and 3 or 4 other German cities.
And, I was glad to get back on the friendly side with Washington, trading dyes for wheat and bananas for wine. Sorry, George, I really didn't want to have to attack you like that. I'm glad we're still friends. ;)
At this point, 1870, it was just a matter of waiting for all of those borders to pop after the whipped theatres come on line.
Finishing up...
And...
Just one turn later in 1872, this happened:
Woo hoo! Agustus Caesar: 30153
I expect most/many folks will win domination via Horse Archers at 500AD, but I had fun nonetheless. Plus, I never play as Saladin, so it was nice seeing a different color on the culture map!
Thanks to everyone who bothered to read this far. Please, comment in the thread at RB. I felt this report was incredibly... dry... I don't think I've found my "voice" for reports yet.
a.badger