thx timmy827 but this site is having problems right now and i'll post my report without pictures. I'll try to edit it later if i am able to upload the files.
Well, the report below was written before i realized what the variant was. I played the entire game thinking the winner would be the one who had the fewest total buildings and not the sum of buildings and units. So, my variant was: construct the fewest buildings possible.
I'm sorry again for the absence of images. Actually i have 35 images to be uploaded but i'm having problems with this. The report is a bit long, so the ones who want a quick summary should read the
strategy part to see how i planned the game and the
considerations part to see how the game actually was.
Here is the REPORT:
I played this game because i found interesting the variant (the winner is the player with the fewest total builds who achieves a dom., conq. or space victory) and wonder how would the AIs go with all starting techs.
STRATEGY:
First of all, Pericles is phi and cre and have phalanxs. It tends to a space victory but with 3 agressive AIs in the same continent i decided to go for domination (i choose it after meeting them of course). Philosophical will help getting technology through lightbulbing with GE, GM and GS. Creative, otherwise, will only help in the ancient times.
In terms of building, almost all cities would build military all the time. Only the capital and another one or two cities would build important things such as lighthouses, Great wonders, forges and markets. Even barracks and granaries wouldnât be built.
In a hemisphere map, The Great Lighthouse will help a lot for domination victory avoiding economy break, and along with Pyramids (Representation) i would have a decent researching at the same time i conquest the AIs. Oracle would be good too to grab metal casting in the way to machinery and engineering. Later, i realized building the oracle would be impossible with all the AIs trying to found religions and pursuiting the oracle and i ignored mysticism until AD times!(thats the reason of the title). Well, it is one less building!
Civics: Representaion, Vassalage, Caste system, Mercantilism, Free Religion
THE GAME
Moved the scout NE, jungles and sugar were reveales, settled in place Athens, which showed as a great city, with fish, clam, oasis, pigs, plains hills and a lot of forests to chop (TGL and Pyramids). Work boat set to building and mining was set to researching. Tech path was mining-BW-AH-sailing-masonry-agriculture-IW-the wheel-writing-archery-pottery. Only one hut was found giving 55 gold. The scout died early and i had to do more units to scout. Ragnar montezuma and tokugawa were found and i started to think compromise choosed all the agressive AIs for this scenario. So, on the other continents, four of the following: Shaka, Stalin, Boudica, genghis or kublai khan and hammurabi.
After work boat worker and some warriors the first settler founded sparte getting corn clam and horses. Gems site would be the next city (no food) due to lack of other options but montezuma founded Tlateloco(3rd city) there, an unusual move. :mad: The vikings got the shock promotion event.
With no copper near i almost decide to retire, mostly after discovering Iron Working (there was no iron near too). But i faced it as a challenge and the plan was, after discovering some good lands northern of vikingâs capital (he had only 2 cities at this point), settle 3 cities there and grab the iron resource south of Montezumaâs capital. At this point, Athens, with lack of options for building, already built The Great Lighthouse at 1560BC(!). Confuccionism was founded in a distant land in 1360BC(!)
and The Oracle fell in 1320BC, but i didnât even had mysticism. Athens built The Pyramids later after a lot of chopping around 200BC.
The plan suceeded and the 3 weakly protected cities survived by the fact that Ragnar and Montezuma were at war (Ragnar had a pretty impressive army with for example CIII,shock,axeman. I could fatally lose the game here if Ragnar declared war on me instead of Monty. I started to whip units in these 3 cities, so that Corinth would have an unhapiness face for 52 turns. In 750BC, a great merchant was born and i got metal casting. Athens built forge and Colossus, which actually didnât help a lot(wrong move here).
I moved a chariot near Tlateloco (the gems spices city) to see the war and Ragnar captured it but his garrisons were dying in the city. With a fantastic luck, only a fragile swordman resisted when the turn passed and i had the opportunity to get the city with only that chariot after declaring war to Ragnar in 300BC. My chariot smiled to a big aztec stack behind the city walls.
The 3 cities were well garrisoned with some phalanx, spears and archers and they would live after a viking attack. In 200BC i had the opportunity to sign peace with him.
Later, in 75AD a Great Engineer was born and i lightbulbed (almost completion) Machinery! This would be decisive for the next two wars, with ragnar and Montezuma. With a good stack in hands i declared war again with Ragnar going after Upsalla, which fell in 100AD. First Great General was born in 225 to a medic III chariot, Construction for pults was up in 325 and peace was signed in 350. 2nd GM was born in 425 for currency.
The vikings were threatened again in 580 but now they died after 220 years of war. Meanwhile i got techs such as Code of Laws(trade), Engineering(researched), Civil Service(lightbulbed) and MYSTICISM(trade)!!!
Wow i never thought i would see mysticism only in 620AD in any game! Montezuma was a good friend in this period but his death was announced. At this point the continent was won, it was a matter of time, i had trebs, macemen and crossbows against archers! and later longbows...
In 940 Islam is founded in a distant land and thatâs all, no religions in our continent. In the same year the japaneses finally sign open borders with us! War with Monezuma(already at war with japan): Tenochitlan was guarded by 1 archer and 2 jaguar warriors... i had 2 macemen 5 crossbows and 4 pults. Teoutihuacan was captured by the japanese. The other cities were equally guarded and i let him alive with 1 crappy city in exchange for some techs. He would die much later around 1300.
The Great Scientist born in 1080 let me know the rest of the world by giving me optics. A fragmented continent worldbuilt (probably) by compromise was revealed on the middle and it asked me for colonization. Another continent was found, with non-agressive AIs, but excelent researching ones (Peter, Willem, Gandhi and Mansa Musa). In the same year(1080). War was declared against tokugawa: trebs and macemen vs. Big stacks of swords, pults, chariots, archers... It was no difficult to defeat him, but it was harder then monty and ragnar... I let him live too with the same reason as monty.
I made some tech trades with the overseas civilizations getting especially one technology: MEDITATION!!! in 1170AD
while i was researching astronomy. Your maps have proven the world is round helped me on the colonization. Lots of settlers and galleons were built and i founded around 20 cities granting independence to some of them in 1520(colonial expenses were struggling, i was losing money with 0% research). Notre Dame was built in Athens in a weedy move. Another GM lightbulbed Guilds.
Peter was the weaker and the nearest civilization on the other continent so he was the first victim. At this time i had knights, Peter had a good huge stack of war elephants, pults, trebs, maceman,... none knights. But i had quite some casulties in St.Petesburg battle. I captured only this city to get the capitulation agreement.After this, i had time to research military tradition and capitulate gandhi and willem to win the game in 1590AD after switching research to 0%, wealth in all cities and culture slider to 30% for some years.
CONSIDERATIONS
-The Great Lighthouse and Pyramids were very important to the economy. Expensive techs such as Engineering were researched relatively fast while a big army was supported and a huge maintenance(no courthouses) was payed. Representation + Caste System + Mercantilism supported expensive researches with 0% tech slider.
-The Monarch+ AI looked like emperor in the early times. Confuccionism was founded in 1360BC, Oracle built in 1320BC, Islam founded in 940AD and so on...
-The agressive move in ancient times to found 3 cities on the north of viking lands were vital. The only possible iron resource was there. With some luck, Montezuma didnât found a city there and later i took a single harmed swordman guarded city with one chariot.
-The absence of religions in the greek continent didnât hurt the happy cap. 2 or 3 granaries were built, so most of the cities stopped growing around 12 population and i have sufficient resources for hapiness.
-Upgrading units was important too since new units didnât have XP and upgraded units remained with its XP.
-The tech path went well, combined with propositaly birth of Great People to lightbulb important techs such as metal casting and civil service.
-The overseas AIs were ahead in technology, but not much. They lacked some military techs, such as military tradition and gunpowder.
-Some wrong moves were made, in terms of building: a lighthouse and a forge in Sparta, forge and The Colossus in Athens, Notre Dame!
, library in Sparta.
-I suspect this game could be won with only 4 buildings: The Palace, lighthouse and TGL, Pyramids. Even though it would be a boring game since it would be over around 1900-2000 years after much dedication.
-Mysticism in 620AD and Meditation in 1170AD is really impressive. But i didn't need it since no religion was founded on the continent and Pericles is creative. I've never changed the religion civic (Paganism) in the game (another variant
).
-Total builds: 16
Total units: 283
Victory: domination in 1590AD
