Griselda's Adventure 9 - ¿Cuál es su plan?
I feel like that constant comment from my units is the main theme of my game. ¿Cuál es su plan? Damned if I know. Still, I had a very enjoyable game that was exciting down to the last turn. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading about it.
¿Cuál es su plan?
First of all, I want to say that I just finished the single most difficult year of my career so far, and as a resuslt I haven't had much time to get to know the game. I've been involved in the community, but I don't know the game inside and out, and I know very little about the end game.
I'm also somebody who realizes that in some cases, innocence is bliss. If I can enjoy the game on a surface level, without trying to get every hammer from a whip or every possible beaker of science overflow, then I am going to have more fun. So, when you look at how things went with my Civ, remember that this was done without any effort to min/max various things. What you see is what you get.
¿Cuál es su plan?
Actually, I didn't hear that so much at the start, since I didn't have any workers! I pretty much let the starting units be, and focused on the economy.
At the start, 2/3 of our income was going to city maintenance! We need courthouses, and badly! Unfortunately, our maintenance budget is eating our research budget, making code of laws a very expensive research project. But, I don't think it can wait, even to clean up some cheaper techs now (even that would take close to forever in this situation, so everything else can wait). Set research to code of laws at 100%, and will gradually lower the slider as I get closer to 0 gold.
I need a lot of workers, and a lot of infrastructure. I decide to take the highest-food city, Seville, and delay its infra by making it a worker factory, thus allowing other cities to build some improvements. I will build one worker out of each city as it grows to 6, but Seville will keep building workers instead of infra until I feel like I have enough. I set Seville to grow in 3, and start a library while I'm waiting. Most other cities go to high growth/granary. Population is power!
On the diplomatic front, I see that I'm pretty neutral with everyone. In fact, the whole game seems to only have religion and close borders as diplomacy issues. It looks like it's not just my civ that's been asleep for the past few millenia!
We are spiritual, and can change religions plenty if we want. For now, we adopt Judaism and get a small happy bonus plus we get on Saladin's good side. This makes Hatty a bit miffed, and she is close by, but we can trade her clams for cows for no net loss in health, and hopefully some good vibes.
In 75AD, Seville grew to size 6 and we started on a worker, due in 6. Most cities are building granary (partial) - worker - granary - library, except for Seville. In Santiago, I build a lighthouse after granary.
It's amazing how little the barbs concern me, considering that I have no improvements!
You don't frighten us, barbarian pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, son of a silly person!
Although long-term, I need population to help me out of this slump, by 200 AD I am getting close to a potential strike and have to MM for commerce in a few places to keep us in the black. I do get through the entire game without a strike.
My first worker is built in 225 AD. My first focus was primarily on getting some roads built and cities connected, but in retrospect this was probably not very smart, as most of my cities were already connected due to the abundant waterways. Saladin comes in and helps build some roads, because he's trying to build a road to his city to the north. He connects his city to Seville by 275 AD. Realizing that this is what he's doing, I let him build a road on my rice while I build the farm there.
The Egyptians capture that barb city in the East.
By 600 AD, Barcelona has grown to 8 and needs happy help. We're a few turns from having our second rice online, so I trade our current rice to Hatty for spices.
¿Cuál es su plan?
I knew even then that I would have to choose between Hatty and Saladin as friends, but at the time I was determined to keep both on my good side. I trade with Hatty and keep Saladin's religion. Am I shooting myself in the foot by trying to maintain good relations with everyone? There's no Switzerland in CIV!
In 620 AD, I can do my first tech trade! I trade meditation and monarchy to Liz for mining, math, and 90 gold. I use the gold to fund some deficit research, and in 860 AD, we have researched or first tech [dance]. Code of Laws is in, and I need bronze working badly.
Around this time, I complete my 10th worker, and stop building workers to save on maintenance. Plus, Seville wants to be a real city someday.
When Bronze comes in (960 AD), I decide that we need currency before iron working, even with all that jungle. I adopt Slavery, and whip courthouses in Cordoba and Salmanca, and later Seville after it has some hammers of its own.
Since I have cows of my own and want to make friends and money, I cancel the cow-for-clams deal with Hatty, and trade clams to Liz and Pigs to Mansa for gold.
In 1090 AD, Currency is in, and I start markets everywhere! Some forest chops help to speed the process.
I feel like I'm finally getting things back together, but my workers keep reminding me of something:
¿Cuál es su plan?
I really don't know a thing about the endgame, which is creeping ever closer. It seems like this is a situation where we can't have guns and butter, and it's butter that the developing civ still needs. So, a military option just doesn't seem realistic. I would have needed to focus on culture much earlier to win that way, especially with Hatty in the game. Space seemed unrealistic at the time, with me so far behind in tech.
So- Diplomacy? "True" diplomacy has always tantalized me. I've never won that way. Very few players try for it. Could I win this by "true" diplomacy? I wanted to try.
¿Cuál es su plan? I hedged my bets. At this point, Hatty and Saladin were pretty much neck and neck. Hatty edged Saladin in population, but I had the feeling that the difference wasn't very great. I didn't want to risk alienating Hatty as hers might be that critical second-largest AI vote that I needed. I had to be friends with both of them, even though they hated each other. Or so I thought.
I build my only city of the game, Murcia, in 1280 AD, and around that time I started my FP in Cordoba.
![[Image: adv9-1.jpg]](http://www.realmsbeyond.net/gris/adv9-1.jpg)
Here's a shot of Murcia in 1290 AD. You can see that I have an uphill battle as far as culture here. The three adjacent Arabian tiles are 99, 99, and 98% Arabian.
![[Image: adv9-2.jpg]](http://www.realmsbeyond.net/gris/adv9-2.jpg)
Here's a wider shot of my empire. You can see that I'm pretty intentionally using religion and cheap temples to spread the happy. In this shot, I don't even have monotheism yet, so I've built monasteries to get things started. I also figured that if I had as many religions as possible in as many of my cities as possible, I would be free to switch for diplomatic reasons without worrying about my civ.
I'm also closing in on some of the tech trailers to where I think I could broker a few things. I noticed that Liz and Caesar don't have Civil Service, which is why I chose that for my research path.
It works! I get it before them, and Julius will trade me monotheism, alphabet, horseback riding, and 40 gold for it! After that, Liz didn't have anything that she wanted to trade me for it, but at least I know I can get something for my techs now. I decide to keep the gambit going by heading for paper.
1340 AD saw the game's first war, but I stayed out of it. Caesar (2nd to last in score) declared on Liz (last).
This depth-research is working. Only Hatty and Saladin get to Paper before me.
I trade Paper to Mansa for Theology.
Paper to Qin for Literature, Drama, and 20 gold.
Wait a turn, then...
Literature, Paper, and Theology to Caesar for Metal Casting, Compass, Construction, and 40 gold.
Paper and Theology to Liz for Music and 20 gold.
One more turn for more teching
Music to Mansa for map and 120 gold (all the gold funds deficit research, of course).
By 1515 I'm second to Printing Press behind Saladin.
Printing Press to Mansa for Divine Right, Map, and 160 gold.
Music and Printing Press to Caesar for Engineering, Optics, and 180 gold.
Printing Press to Liz for guilds and 20 gold
Printing Press to Hatty for Philosophy, Map, and 180 gold.
Now, I'm 3 techs up on Caesar! Liz is only showing Banking ahead of me. I've caught the stragglers!
I decide to try for Nationalism (only Hatty has it so far). I also built the Hanging Gardens in Madrid in 1520, which was nice.
But it's tech that's the name if the game.
Divine Right to Liz for Banking
Nationalism to Saladin for Education, 10 gold, and Map.
In a few turns (when she agrees), Nationalism for Gunpowder.
It just keeps going. I wonder how long it can last. In 1600, I can trade Military Tradition to Mansa for Constitution, map and 620 gold. I was going to trade it for Economics from Hatty, but she now fears that I am becoming too advanced. Even though I'm way behind her, I think she's right. I got a lot of free techs over the last few turns.
The funny thing is, in 1615, Hatty contacts me and offers Economics and gold for Military Tradition. OK, Hatty, twist my arm.
In 1650, I get my first great person, an Engineer. I haven't been able to run many specialists yet. I want the Statue of Liberty, and the tech is due in 10 at 70% science (a deficit that I can't sustain for 10 turns). I just miss, though. Hatty completes it, one turn after I get democracy. I forgot to poprush the forge in Murcia while I was waiting for the tech, so I guess that's my
There's a lot of weed in my gameplay, and although I'm catching up, it's things like these that make me doubt my ability to pull off a win. I get frustrated. Then, I click on a unit, and hear, "¿Cuál es su plan?"
¡Callense! ¡Yo tengo un plan, claro! ¡No me molesten!
There are some good thigns happening, though. Demographics say that I'm #1 in production, population, and imports/exports, and #2 in food. I'm also #2 in land area (Saladin has the most land, Hatty the most people behind me). GNP is still 5th, but I think it's artificially low because of my "trade deficit" (I'm importing a ton of stuff right now, which should allow me to grow and be a net gain in a while).
I enter the Industrial age in 1725. That same turn, Saladin declares on Mansa. I'm still thinking Diplo, so I decide to join if he asks me, although I rather like Mansa. That doesn't happen until 1824, just a few turns before they make peace. It's a totally phony war on my part, but I didn't want to risk the negative, and it could have been a bigger positive if the war got ugly. I am still thinking Hatty and me on the ballot, with Saladin as the big guy I need to woo.
Of course, I don't (yet) want to align my civics with Saladin. I adopt free religion (have a ton of religions per city).
My first Golden Age comes in 1808. I could have triggered it a few turns earlier, but I waited until assembly line was in so that I'd have factories to build everywhere. My second GA comes in 1862.
I declare on Ceasar at England's request. Not much happens (I don't have any desire to invade him), but he does lose some units due to sending a single grenadier up next to a stack of cavs, and assorted weedy moves like that.
Mansa robs Broadway from me, 1 turn before. Doesn't he know that I'm the trader around here? Those hit musicals should be mine! I pop an artist, who I use towards Mass Media, and start the Eiffel Tower (in Barcelona, which has Iron Works), and Rock N' Roll (in Madrid).
I also am in a hurry to get to the UN, for some reason, although I haven't formed allegiances with the AI to the degree that I'd like to do it. ¿Cuál es su plan? Mostly, I'm just wanting to get to the UN so that I can see how things look. I worry that I'm sacrificing space by beelining to the UN, but oh well.
So, I rushed the UN in 1882 in Cordoba. Then, I change my civics. I didn't (at first) realize that I only needed theocracy (with Judaism, of course) to woo Saladin, but you can bet that I won't forget that again! So, I left Environmentalism to swap to Free Market, which of course leads to a health disaster! I was expecting the health disaster, of course, but only because I thought that it would be worth it to improve relations with Saladin. I do end up at +11 net with Saladin, which isn't bad considering that I have -4 with nearly everybody for trading with their enemy. I did switch back to Environmentalism when I reread a diplo article and realized my mistake.
In 1886, there is a vote for Secretary General. I was right- it was me and Hatty. I have 161 votes to cast out of 288 needed. Let's hope Saladin has a bunch.
I miscalculated. Saladin may be strong, but not in population. So, here I am going for a diplo victory, I spent an engineer on the UN, and I can't even get elected Secretary General! This is going to get ugly.
Hatty got three HUNDRED seventy-four votes for SG. Uh oh.
I really hadn't figured on Qin and Mansa for contenders in votes. But, when I look at the list,
Mansa has 60 votes,
Qin has 113,
Liz has 39,
Hatty has 162,
I have 161,
Saladin has (only!) 116, and
Caesar has 72.
Everyone but me, Saladin, and Caesar votes for Hatty JC abstains).
No tengo un plan. I saved the game and came back later with fresh eyes. Could I still pull this off?
Clearly, Qin will be the key. He is running Organized Religion and has Hatty's religion, but he's also the AI who likes Saladin the best (+1, Saladin's a popular guy
. I will build some Jewish missionaries and send them his way.
Had I known what I was doing, I could have built the Jewish Bloc many, many turns ago, but since he's still in Organized, I figure there's still a chance. Just don't ask us to vote on Free Religion, OK, Hatty? Please?
The first vote is for- Universal Suffrage. Whew! The second is for Single Currency.
In the mean time, I've completed Rock N' Roll, Eiffel Tower, and Hollywood, and convert 1 Chinese city. He actually has several Jewish cities already.
I get two more missionaries into China. He has two more cities to convert on the mainland, and one on that magical island of iron, fur, crabs and whales (I missed settling that one, but did try). But then, QIN CANCELS OPEN BORDERS. :mad: I didn't want to do this, but I guess I'll need Police State to get in. But to do that, I will need Fascism.
Meanwhile, Saladin wants me to cancel a deal with my good buddy Mansa, which I have to do. I can deal those resources to Qin, though.
In 1910, Hatty calls for a Diplo vote. I end up the leading candidate with 291 votes, but needed 463 to win. Mansa and Hatty vote for Hatty, and me and Saldin vote for me. Everyone else abstains. Saladin is up a few votes compared to the others this time around, but that's not going to do it. According to the numbers, I will need Saladin, Qin, *and* and one other little civ, or else one of us needs to absorb somebody's population.
Also this turn, Saladin finished Apollo. He's a strong contender for space, and I can't do anything to stop him, because I need his vote. I really need to get him into a war. Hatty completes Apollo in 1914. :eeK:
Instead of even going close to space, I adopt Police State and get Open Borders back with Qin. I also lose the second SG election!
I convert the last two Chinese cities on the mainland, and then...
The Free Religion resolution succeeds.
¿Cuál es su plan? The damn units just won't shut up.
By 1929, Hatty has completed her SS cockpit. My only hope is the Space Elevator, but I'm still (lamely) holding onto diplo. I was everybody's friend! They should love me, damnit! So, I sign a defensive pact with Saladin.
At some point, although I can't believe I didn't write down when, I get the Chinese to declare on Hatty. They take this very seriously, and raze Giza. Then, Egypt razes Nanjing. Maybe I should build a couple more tanks.
I do now have enough to get elected SG. Me, Qin, Liz, and Saladin vote for me, for 463 votes out of 772 (the rest for Hatty, nobody abstains). They don't all like me enough for a
diplo vote, though.
In 1938, I get Caesar to declare on Hatty. Qin asks me to join in. I hold my breath and say OK, even though she has Mech Inf and I'm not even close.
I move my troops to the border and start arty in research cities. Meanwhile, Saladin's looking to run away with space, and I don't know that I can stop him. I check obsessively to see if he will declare on Hatty. They've never been friends, but he won't go to war.
My lands are getting bombarded by Hatty's air force (I dont' have flight, hehe), but she doesn't seem to have a lot of units about. I take out a couple of her mech inf in the open with good use of artillery, and think maybe I could crack Heliopolis.
I also drag Mansa into this war. The more, the merrier!
In 1948, I capture Heliopolis. Robotics is in. I can start building the space elevator and mech inf. I rush the Space Elevetor with 1 engineer, which puts it at 9 turns. I need 9 turns for rocketry anyway, but who knows if another AI is working on it?
In 1951, I capture Sarmatian.
But, of course Hatty isn't second in population now. Saladin is my opponent for Diplo!
That vote looks like Qin for Saladin, Liz for me, Saladin and me for ourselves, and everybody else abstains. I don't think that I can ever get Mansa, Hatty, or Caesar, so this is a permanent stalemate.
In 1957, I captured Memphis, and declared peace. I ordered some wine from Mansa (a lot of deals fell through with the heavy air pillaging), and try to fix my economy.
¿Cuál es su plan? Well, I have a plan now. Will it be too late?
In 1966, I complete the Apollo program.
In 1989, I'm 5 turns from spaceship completion. I am thinking that maybe I can do this after all. F8 lists Saladin as the closest rival. He only needs the stasis chamber, which is due in 8. According to F8, I'm going to win, right? Right?
I can see that Hatty has a stasis chamber due in 3, but since F8 lists Saladin as closer, I assume she has one more part after that.
I do wonder if maybe the screen is wrong. I have cash and spies to sabotage. I consider doing it anyway, but I'm worried that if I fail and she declares war, something that could happen that could disrupt my production, and I'm just 3 turns ahead of Saladin as it stands. I can't afford to risk it without knowing that she's ahead.
So, in the end, it's sort of an anti-climax. In 1992, with my spaceship due in 2 turns, Hatty wins. I displayed the leadership of Warren G. Harding. Harding? Come on! I was two turns from winning! I guess "close" doesn't count when you're dealing with matters of geopolitics.
All in all, though, I think that it was a great experience. The game was thrilling all the way through, and I certainly learned a ton.
I also think that it was winnable by diplomacy or by space, with very few changes. Clearly, if I would have not trusted F8 and had sabotaged Hatty's production, I could have beaten her. Once I'd established that the others weren't a threat, I no longer needed spies there, so I could have sent them all to Egypt. I had plenty of cash, and only needed two turns.
I really think that this is a display error. The game shouldn't mislead players that way. With things like game score, you know that the game might put more emphasis on things that don't matter as much for a particular scenario. With something cut and dried like building a space ship, the AI who is "ahead" should be the correct one, especially when there's only one part left and very little left to interpretation.
I did take three Egyptian cities during the war, which knocked her out of contention for diplomacy. I guess I assumed that she was more "beaten" by being at war with so many civs for so long. Kudos to the CIV AI for not letting war destroy your chances of getting to space. If I'd pushed deeper into Egypt's core, even just for pillaging, it's possible that there would have been a different outcome. Of course, that's assuming that the war wouldn't have lasted any longer, because clearly I would have destroyed my own chances for space by pressing on with the war (heck, maybe just ending it at two captured Egyptian cities instead of three would have given me enough of an economic boost to have pulled off the win. But, Hatty still wanted Heliopolis for peace after two cities, and I was not going to give that up. After three cities, she was more than happy to pay me.)
I think that true Diplomacy would have been doable, too, but I would have needed to be more decisive, and much earlier. I guess I really knew that Hatty would be my opponent from a pretty early stage. I should have trusted this and worked on wooing Saladin much sooner.
It is also important to not neglect a middle of the road civ to push you over the diplo threshhold. With Qin in Organized religion for so long, I could have converted him to Judaism much, much earlier. From there, as long as I made sure to be friends with their friends, and enemies with their enemies, it wouldn't have been too much trouble. It helps that both civs favorite civics are in different columns, too.
![[Image: adv9-3.jpg]](http://www.realmsbeyond.net/gris/adv9-3.jpg)
Here's a shot of Murcia at the end. You can see that I had no trouble winning the culture war there. Now, down on Egypt's border it was another story.
![[Image: adv9-4.jpg]](http://www.realmsbeyond.net/gris/adv9-4.jpg)
Here's the game score at the end. You can see that Egypt took quite a hit during the war, but just not quite enough of a hit.
![[Image: adv9-5.jpg]](http://www.realmsbeyond.net/gris/adv9-5.jpg)
Here's a picture of the GNP situation in 1290, right when I feel like I'd started to turn the corner financially- markets were coming online, I completed my FP, etc. I was just about to start brokering some serious tech, which wouldn't really show up here, but was critical in me coming as close as I came in the end.
So, not a glorious or victorious game, but maybe this counts as one that was much more exciting that those that wrap up sooner? I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed playing it.
edit- fixed a screenshot and a smiley
I feel like that constant comment from my units is the main theme of my game. ¿Cuál es su plan? Damned if I know. Still, I had a very enjoyable game that was exciting down to the last turn. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading about it.
¿Cuál es su plan?
First of all, I want to say that I just finished the single most difficult year of my career so far, and as a resuslt I haven't had much time to get to know the game. I've been involved in the community, but I don't know the game inside and out, and I know very little about the end game.
I'm also somebody who realizes that in some cases, innocence is bliss. If I can enjoy the game on a surface level, without trying to get every hammer from a whip or every possible beaker of science overflow, then I am going to have more fun. So, when you look at how things went with my Civ, remember that this was done without any effort to min/max various things. What you see is what you get.
¿Cuál es su plan?
Actually, I didn't hear that so much at the start, since I didn't have any workers! I pretty much let the starting units be, and focused on the economy.
At the start, 2/3 of our income was going to city maintenance! We need courthouses, and badly! Unfortunately, our maintenance budget is eating our research budget, making code of laws a very expensive research project. But, I don't think it can wait, even to clean up some cheaper techs now (even that would take close to forever in this situation, so everything else can wait). Set research to code of laws at 100%, and will gradually lower the slider as I get closer to 0 gold.
I need a lot of workers, and a lot of infrastructure. I decide to take the highest-food city, Seville, and delay its infra by making it a worker factory, thus allowing other cities to build some improvements. I will build one worker out of each city as it grows to 6, but Seville will keep building workers instead of infra until I feel like I have enough. I set Seville to grow in 3, and start a library while I'm waiting. Most other cities go to high growth/granary. Population is power!
On the diplomatic front, I see that I'm pretty neutral with everyone. In fact, the whole game seems to only have religion and close borders as diplomacy issues. It looks like it's not just my civ that's been asleep for the past few millenia!
We are spiritual, and can change religions plenty if we want. For now, we adopt Judaism and get a small happy bonus plus we get on Saladin's good side. This makes Hatty a bit miffed, and she is close by, but we can trade her clams for cows for no net loss in health, and hopefully some good vibes.
In 75AD, Seville grew to size 6 and we started on a worker, due in 6. Most cities are building granary (partial) - worker - granary - library, except for Seville. In Santiago, I build a lighthouse after granary.
It's amazing how little the barbs concern me, considering that I have no improvements!
You don't frighten us, barbarian pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, son of a silly person!Although long-term, I need population to help me out of this slump, by 200 AD I am getting close to a potential strike and have to MM for commerce in a few places to keep us in the black. I do get through the entire game without a strike.
My first worker is built in 225 AD. My first focus was primarily on getting some roads built and cities connected, but in retrospect this was probably not very smart, as most of my cities were already connected due to the abundant waterways. Saladin comes in and helps build some roads, because he's trying to build a road to his city to the north. He connects his city to Seville by 275 AD. Realizing that this is what he's doing, I let him build a road on my rice while I build the farm there.
The Egyptians capture that barb city in the East.
By 600 AD, Barcelona has grown to 8 and needs happy help. We're a few turns from having our second rice online, so I trade our current rice to Hatty for spices.
¿Cuál es su plan?
I knew even then that I would have to choose between Hatty and Saladin as friends, but at the time I was determined to keep both on my good side. I trade with Hatty and keep Saladin's religion. Am I shooting myself in the foot by trying to maintain good relations with everyone? There's no Switzerland in CIV!
In 620 AD, I can do my first tech trade! I trade meditation and monarchy to Liz for mining, math, and 90 gold. I use the gold to fund some deficit research, and in 860 AD, we have researched or first tech [dance]. Code of Laws is in, and I need bronze working badly.
Around this time, I complete my 10th worker, and stop building workers to save on maintenance. Plus, Seville wants to be a real city someday.
When Bronze comes in (960 AD), I decide that we need currency before iron working, even with all that jungle. I adopt Slavery, and whip courthouses in Cordoba and Salmanca, and later Seville after it has some hammers of its own.
Since I have cows of my own and want to make friends and money, I cancel the cow-for-clams deal with Hatty, and trade clams to Liz and Pigs to Mansa for gold.
In 1090 AD, Currency is in, and I start markets everywhere! Some forest chops help to speed the process.
I feel like I'm finally getting things back together, but my workers keep reminding me of something:
¿Cuál es su plan?
I really don't know a thing about the endgame, which is creeping ever closer. It seems like this is a situation where we can't have guns and butter, and it's butter that the developing civ still needs. So, a military option just doesn't seem realistic. I would have needed to focus on culture much earlier to win that way, especially with Hatty in the game. Space seemed unrealistic at the time, with me so far behind in tech.
So- Diplomacy? "True" diplomacy has always tantalized me. I've never won that way. Very few players try for it. Could I win this by "true" diplomacy? I wanted to try.
¿Cuál es su plan? I hedged my bets. At this point, Hatty and Saladin were pretty much neck and neck. Hatty edged Saladin in population, but I had the feeling that the difference wasn't very great. I didn't want to risk alienating Hatty as hers might be that critical second-largest AI vote that I needed. I had to be friends with both of them, even though they hated each other. Or so I thought.
I build my only city of the game, Murcia, in 1280 AD, and around that time I started my FP in Cordoba.
Here's a shot of Murcia in 1290 AD. You can see that I have an uphill battle as far as culture here. The three adjacent Arabian tiles are 99, 99, and 98% Arabian.
Here's a wider shot of my empire. You can see that I'm pretty intentionally using religion and cheap temples to spread the happy. In this shot, I don't even have monotheism yet, so I've built monasteries to get things started. I also figured that if I had as many religions as possible in as many of my cities as possible, I would be free to switch for diplomatic reasons without worrying about my civ.
I'm also closing in on some of the tech trailers to where I think I could broker a few things. I noticed that Liz and Caesar don't have Civil Service, which is why I chose that for my research path.
It works! I get it before them, and Julius will trade me monotheism, alphabet, horseback riding, and 40 gold for it! After that, Liz didn't have anything that she wanted to trade me for it, but at least I know I can get something for my techs now. I decide to keep the gambit going by heading for paper.
1340 AD saw the game's first war, but I stayed out of it. Caesar (2nd to last in score) declared on Liz (last).
This depth-research is working. Only Hatty and Saladin get to Paper before me.
I trade Paper to Mansa for Theology.
Paper to Qin for Literature, Drama, and 20 gold.
Wait a turn, then...
Literature, Paper, and Theology to Caesar for Metal Casting, Compass, Construction, and 40 gold.
Paper and Theology to Liz for Music and 20 gold.
One more turn for more teching
Music to Mansa for map and 120 gold (all the gold funds deficit research, of course).
By 1515 I'm second to Printing Press behind Saladin.
Printing Press to Mansa for Divine Right, Map, and 160 gold.
Music and Printing Press to Caesar for Engineering, Optics, and 180 gold.
Printing Press to Liz for guilds and 20 gold
Printing Press to Hatty for Philosophy, Map, and 180 gold.
Now, I'm 3 techs up on Caesar! Liz is only showing Banking ahead of me. I've caught the stragglers!
I decide to try for Nationalism (only Hatty has it so far). I also built the Hanging Gardens in Madrid in 1520, which was nice.
But it's tech that's the name if the game.
Divine Right to Liz for Banking
Nationalism to Saladin for Education, 10 gold, and Map.
In a few turns (when she agrees), Nationalism for Gunpowder.
It just keeps going. I wonder how long it can last. In 1600, I can trade Military Tradition to Mansa for Constitution, map and 620 gold. I was going to trade it for Economics from Hatty, but she now fears that I am becoming too advanced. Even though I'm way behind her, I think she's right. I got a lot of free techs over the last few turns.
The funny thing is, in 1615, Hatty contacts me and offers Economics and gold for Military Tradition. OK, Hatty, twist my arm.
In 1650, I get my first great person, an Engineer. I haven't been able to run many specialists yet. I want the Statue of Liberty, and the tech is due in 10 at 70% science (a deficit that I can't sustain for 10 turns). I just miss, though. Hatty completes it, one turn after I get democracy. I forgot to poprush the forge in Murcia while I was waiting for the tech, so I guess that's my
There's a lot of weed in my gameplay, and although I'm catching up, it's things like these that make me doubt my ability to pull off a win. I get frustrated. Then, I click on a unit, and hear, "¿Cuál es su plan?"
¡Callense! ¡Yo tengo un plan, claro! ¡No me molesten!There are some good thigns happening, though. Demographics say that I'm #1 in production, population, and imports/exports, and #2 in food. I'm also #2 in land area (Saladin has the most land, Hatty the most people behind me). GNP is still 5th, but I think it's artificially low because of my "trade deficit" (I'm importing a ton of stuff right now, which should allow me to grow and be a net gain in a while).
I enter the Industrial age in 1725. That same turn, Saladin declares on Mansa. I'm still thinking Diplo, so I decide to join if he asks me, although I rather like Mansa. That doesn't happen until 1824, just a few turns before they make peace. It's a totally phony war on my part, but I didn't want to risk the negative, and it could have been a bigger positive if the war got ugly. I am still thinking Hatty and me on the ballot, with Saladin as the big guy I need to woo.
Of course, I don't (yet) want to align my civics with Saladin. I adopt free religion (have a ton of religions per city).
My first Golden Age comes in 1808. I could have triggered it a few turns earlier, but I waited until assembly line was in so that I'd have factories to build everywhere. My second GA comes in 1862.
I declare on Ceasar at England's request. Not much happens (I don't have any desire to invade him), but he does lose some units due to sending a single grenadier up next to a stack of cavs, and assorted weedy moves like that.
Mansa robs Broadway from me, 1 turn before. Doesn't he know that I'm the trader around here? Those hit musicals should be mine! I pop an artist, who I use towards Mass Media, and start the Eiffel Tower (in Barcelona, which has Iron Works), and Rock N' Roll (in Madrid).
I also am in a hurry to get to the UN, for some reason, although I haven't formed allegiances with the AI to the degree that I'd like to do it. ¿Cuál es su plan? Mostly, I'm just wanting to get to the UN so that I can see how things look. I worry that I'm sacrificing space by beelining to the UN, but oh well.
So, I rushed the UN in 1882 in Cordoba.
Then, I change my civics. I didn't (at first) realize that I only needed theocracy (with Judaism, of course) to woo Saladin, but you can bet that I won't forget that again! So, I left Environmentalism to swap to Free Market, which of course leads to a health disaster! I was expecting the health disaster, of course, but only because I thought that it would be worth it to improve relations with Saladin. I do end up at +11 net with Saladin, which isn't bad considering that I have -4 with nearly everybody for trading with their enemy. I did switch back to Environmentalism when I reread a diplo article and realized my mistake.In 1886, there is a vote for Secretary General. I was right- it was me and Hatty. I have 161 votes to cast out of 288 needed. Let's hope Saladin has a bunch.
I miscalculated. Saladin may be strong, but not in population. So, here I am going for a diplo victory, I spent an engineer on the UN, and I can't even get elected Secretary General! This is going to get ugly.
Hatty got three HUNDRED seventy-four votes for SG. Uh oh.
I really hadn't figured on Qin and Mansa for contenders in votes. But, when I look at the list,
Mansa has 60 votes,
Qin has 113,
Liz has 39,
Hatty has 162,
I have 161,
Saladin has (only!) 116, and
Caesar has 72.
Everyone but me, Saladin, and Caesar votes for Hatty JC abstains).
No tengo un plan. I saved the game and came back later with fresh eyes. Could I still pull this off?
Clearly, Qin will be the key. He is running Organized Religion and has Hatty's religion, but he's also the AI who likes Saladin the best (+1, Saladin's a popular guy
. I will build some Jewish missionaries and send them his way.Had I known what I was doing, I could have built the Jewish Bloc many, many turns ago, but since he's still in Organized, I figure there's still a chance. Just don't ask us to vote on Free Religion, OK, Hatty? Please?
The first vote is for- Universal Suffrage. Whew! The second is for Single Currency.
In the mean time, I've completed Rock N' Roll, Eiffel Tower, and Hollywood, and convert 1 Chinese city. He actually has several Jewish cities already.
I get two more missionaries into China. He has two more cities to convert on the mainland, and one on that magical island of iron, fur, crabs and whales (I missed settling that one, but did try). But then, QIN CANCELS OPEN BORDERS. :mad: I didn't want to do this, but I guess I'll need Police State to get in. But to do that, I will need Fascism.
Meanwhile, Saladin wants me to cancel a deal with my good buddy Mansa, which I have to do. I can deal those resources to Qin, though.
In 1910, Hatty calls for a Diplo vote. I end up the leading candidate with 291 votes, but needed 463 to win. Mansa and Hatty vote for Hatty, and me and Saldin vote for me. Everyone else abstains. Saladin is up a few votes compared to the others this time around, but that's not going to do it. According to the numbers, I will need Saladin, Qin, *and* and one other little civ, or else one of us needs to absorb somebody's population.
Also this turn, Saladin finished Apollo. He's a strong contender for space, and I can't do anything to stop him, because I need his vote. I really need to get him into a war. Hatty completes Apollo in 1914. :eeK:
Instead of even going close to space, I adopt Police State and get Open Borders back with Qin. I also lose the second SG election!
I convert the last two Chinese cities on the mainland, and then...
The Free Religion resolution succeeds.
¿Cuál es su plan? The damn units just won't shut up.
By 1929, Hatty has completed her SS cockpit. My only hope is the Space Elevator, but I'm still (lamely) holding onto diplo. I was everybody's friend! They should love me, damnit! So, I sign a defensive pact with Saladin.
At some point, although I can't believe I didn't write down when, I get the Chinese to declare on Hatty. They take this very seriously, and raze Giza. Then, Egypt razes Nanjing. Maybe I should build a couple more tanks.
I do now have enough to get elected SG. Me, Qin, Liz, and Saladin vote for me, for 463 votes out of 772 (the rest for Hatty, nobody abstains). They don't all like me enough for a
diplo vote, though.
In 1938, I get Caesar to declare on Hatty. Qin asks me to join in. I hold my breath and say OK, even though she has Mech Inf and I'm not even close.
I move my troops to the border and start arty in research cities. Meanwhile, Saladin's looking to run away with space, and I don't know that I can stop him. I check obsessively to see if he will declare on Hatty. They've never been friends, but he won't go to war.
My lands are getting bombarded by Hatty's air force (I dont' have flight, hehe), but she doesn't seem to have a lot of units about. I take out a couple of her mech inf in the open with good use of artillery, and think maybe I could crack Heliopolis.
I also drag Mansa into this war. The more, the merrier!
In 1948, I capture Heliopolis. Robotics is in. I can start building the space elevator and mech inf. I rush the Space Elevetor with 1 engineer, which puts it at 9 turns. I need 9 turns for rocketry anyway, but who knows if another AI is working on it?
In 1951, I capture Sarmatian.
But, of course Hatty isn't second in population now. Saladin is my opponent for Diplo!
That vote looks like Qin for Saladin, Liz for me, Saladin and me for ourselves, and everybody else abstains. I don't think that I can ever get Mansa, Hatty, or Caesar, so this is a permanent stalemate.
In 1957, I captured Memphis, and declared peace. I ordered some wine from Mansa (a lot of deals fell through with the heavy air pillaging), and try to fix my economy.
¿Cuál es su plan? Well, I have a plan now. Will it be too late?
In 1966, I complete the Apollo program.
In 1989, I'm 5 turns from spaceship completion. I am thinking that maybe I can do this after all. F8 lists Saladin as the closest rival. He only needs the stasis chamber, which is due in 8. According to F8, I'm going to win, right? Right?
I can see that Hatty has a stasis chamber due in 3, but since F8 lists Saladin as closer, I assume she has one more part after that.
I do wonder if maybe the screen is wrong. I have cash and spies to sabotage. I consider doing it anyway, but I'm worried that if I fail and she declares war, something that could happen that could disrupt my production, and I'm just 3 turns ahead of Saladin as it stands. I can't afford to risk it without knowing that she's ahead.
So, in the end, it's sort of an anti-climax. In 1992, with my spaceship due in 2 turns, Hatty wins. I displayed the leadership of Warren G. Harding. Harding? Come on! I was two turns from winning! I guess "close" doesn't count when you're dealing with matters of geopolitics.
All in all, though, I think that it was a great experience. The game was thrilling all the way through, and I certainly learned a ton.
I also think that it was winnable by diplomacy or by space, with very few changes. Clearly, if I would have not trusted F8 and had sabotaged Hatty's production, I could have beaten her. Once I'd established that the others weren't a threat, I no longer needed spies there, so I could have sent them all to Egypt. I had plenty of cash, and only needed two turns.
I really think that this is a display error. The game shouldn't mislead players that way. With things like game score, you know that the game might put more emphasis on things that don't matter as much for a particular scenario. With something cut and dried like building a space ship, the AI who is "ahead" should be the correct one, especially when there's only one part left and very little left to interpretation.
I did take three Egyptian cities during the war, which knocked her out of contention for diplomacy. I guess I assumed that she was more "beaten" by being at war with so many civs for so long. Kudos to the CIV AI for not letting war destroy your chances of getting to space. If I'd pushed deeper into Egypt's core, even just for pillaging, it's possible that there would have been a different outcome. Of course, that's assuming that the war wouldn't have lasted any longer, because clearly I would have destroyed my own chances for space by pressing on with the war (heck, maybe just ending it at two captured Egyptian cities instead of three would have given me enough of an economic boost to have pulled off the win. But, Hatty still wanted Heliopolis for peace after two cities, and I was not going to give that up. After three cities, she was more than happy to pay me.)
I think that true Diplomacy would have been doable, too, but I would have needed to be more decisive, and much earlier. I guess I really knew that Hatty would be my opponent from a pretty early stage. I should have trusted this and worked on wooing Saladin much sooner.
It is also important to not neglect a middle of the road civ to push you over the diplo threshhold. With Qin in Organized religion for so long, I could have converted him to Judaism much, much earlier. From there, as long as I made sure to be friends with their friends, and enemies with their enemies, it wouldn't have been too much trouble. It helps that both civs favorite civics are in different columns, too.
Here's a shot of Murcia at the end. You can see that I had no trouble winning the culture war there. Now, down on Egypt's border it was another story.
Here's the game score at the end. You can see that Egypt took quite a hit during the war, but just not quite enough of a hit.
Here's a picture of the GNP situation in 1290, right when I feel like I'd started to turn the corner financially- markets were coming online, I completed my FP, etc. I was just about to start brokering some serious tech, which wouldn't really show up here, but was critical in me coming as close as I came in the end.
So, not a glorious or victorious game, but maybe this counts as one that was much more exciting that those that wrap up sooner? I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed playing it.
edit- fixed a screenshot and a smiley
![[Image: nod.gif]](http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/nod.gif)
![[Image: wink.gif]](http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif)
As I posted in T-Hawk's thread, the only safe way to win by diplo is to control all the votes yourself. Anything else, and the AIs are likely to do crazy stuff. Maybe someday we'll get a more functional UN, but that's probably more of a Civ5 thing.
I hope that will help you (or has already helped you?) with finding a better job. 
I see you're the only one I've read about so far who founded a city on her own - interesting. When I was able to run 90% research with my seven cities (before I declared war), I had wondered myself whether founding another city might be a good idea, but decided against it as I didn't want to fight a cultural war. Good to see you managed to win that.