Ah, back in the saddle! It's been a while since I've played Civ VI, back before the winter (?) patch. Everything is apparently better, and now you can name your cities too. What else could you possibly want?
The information on the game seems pretty typical - map script Pangaea (thankfully). My third game I was playing an island continents game and the AI was completely broken - they would rush your continent with settlers and ignore their own, which just screwed everyone over. It's one difficulty level higher then I've played on Immortal, and it's domination too. Still, apparently the game is much easier if you have fresh water. I wonder what that's like.
I'm expecting to go into this and either be smothered in the cradle or eventually quit from disgust at the 1UPT system. Let's see how it shakes out, shall we?
Not an impressive start location production wise, which is what matters for an early rush. Can't get units out if you aren't working production tiles. Lots of flat rivers, food, and two luxuries. Horses are big, for the UU. UU Horse Archer rush is definitely a go here. Both abilities are excellent. Pantheon is needed, religion isn't. Agoge + pantheon belief for 25% quicker classical unit construction will greatly favour me over the AI if the bug still isn't patched. My economy, for the record, will crash and burn from the military maintenance. Not sure how I'll deal with that, but I'm sure I can scrutinise the labyrinth that is poor documentation for an answer. Probably.
My biggest fear is being trapped in a 'there's literally city states all around me, help' situation. I want a second or third city to shoulder some of the costs. Looking at the save, we're on the border of Baltica and Ur. They're suggesting me to move down two to the south, but I'm not seeing any benefit. I misclicked and didn't show any extra tiles to make a move worthwhile. I SIP for no other reason then eventually the chocolate resource will be in my borders and with how the rivers are, I can probably get three cities on the three rivers. If I've learned anything, you should pack your cities within the 6 tile radii as much as possible. Combined industrial efforts are powerful. I immediately rename Pokrokva (a mouthful) to Lithuania. I can in no way be blamed for the map generator influencing my decision.
Begin Slinger, send Warrior north. Floodplains, desert, mountain... hm. Not a bad site for my second city. Next turn, I uncover a lot of desert hills. This looks like my second city site, and I've got floodplain food to help work those mines. Nice.
Pericles of Greece finds me (better him then Gorgo). I show him my city in the vain hope I will finally pick up an ally, even if it's just for a bit. He came from the south it looks like. Hong Kong is to my North, worrying me. C'mon, no city states to ruin my day, c'mon...
Barbarian scout pops in, great. Can't murder him since I'm off exploring. Slinger -> Builder, since I've only met Pericles and he should be pretty peaceful. Meet Hattusa, you're really starting to scare me here. Third city site spotted near Hattusa too, within six tiles of the capital and desert town. Animal Husbandry finishes, begin Horseback Riding due in... 34 turns. Yeah. Greece becomes unfriendly, and I murmur a curse at the diplomacy system under my breath.
![[Image: z7SoTk7.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/z7SoTk7.jpg)
Greece marches two warriors right up to Lithuania, uh... Can't get a warrior out to make a difference, so I keep builder in construction. For what it's worth, Slinger is right by there and my warrior was heading back home out of fear of this. I hope I don't get destroyed, I hope I don't get destroyed...
Greece does not attack (thankfully), and instead whacks a barbarian that came from behind. Code of Laws finishes, God King/+5 against barbarians (can't remember) are the two I pick. Begin Craftmanship. Greece continues to not murder me, I send Slinger south to pick up a barbarian kill to boost Archery. Worker completes, builds pasture, Horseback riding boosted, due in 11. Warrior returns to Lithuania next turn. Build Kurgan, probably a waste, but chips in +2 faith for the pantheon. I am, in fact, worried. Can't you tell?
Warrior -> Settler
Greece seems to be to the SE of me and they are running around with a lot of warriors. I am still scared. Greece moves three warriors next to the capital, I have a heart attack. Begin Mil. Tradition and Mining, begin wondering how close is too close for a city, the usual. Grab God of the Forge, not sure which cities to place first. I've got four picked out and I'm not seeing any reason to rush Pericles out the gate. I've got room.
Find Zanzibar with a noticeable lack of mercury. Greece has no less then six warriors around my city and four of them are on the tiles I'm supposed to be working. Help. Move warrior out in preparation to found my second city, since there's nothing I can do if Greece rushes me. Slinger is still hunting for barbarians (where are they?), warrior two is trying to find a city spot I like for the east of Lithuania, and warrior one was at my capital. Don't throttle me, please, please...
Greece brings up another warrior, the Baltic state screams. Find India, who is about as pacifist of a neighbour as one could get. Still has more military then one would think necessary struggling around. Jeez. Settler completes, worker cash bought, build Saka Horse Archer. We're going down fighting. Slinger continues to find citystates instead of barbarians, warrior continues to find barbarians instead of city sites. I'm thinking of making a comedy. Greece continues to insist on the Occupy Lithuania Movement, but this time with more milling warriors so my cashbought worker is useless. Nice.
![[Image: Jyed32m.png]](http://i.imgur.com/Jyed32m.png)
![[Image: LpCURTJ.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/LpCURTJ.jpg)
Greece declares surprise war against me, yeah. I had a feeling that was going to happen. Scout takes unguarded settler because the unit spam is killer. 1UPT is my favourite mechanic. (I didn't realise at the time that Settlers and opposing enemy units don't stack. Whoops. ~ Later checking) Despite the ongoing war, Occupy Lithuania Movement mostly ends. Why? Why not, I guess. Builder is not taken despite them probably being able to do so, which was unguarded more out of a lack of military units.
I'll probably get wiped when I click next turn. One warrior attacks, bafflingly enough. It takes about 1/6th of my health bar off. Five turns until I complete my Saka Horse Archers, seven until both military units can come back. This will be tricky. Can I pull this off without horribly crippling my civilisation more then the settler capture already has?
End turn again. Lithuania is wiped by Greek warrior forces. Defeat T38, my first defeat ever in a civilisation game.
Closing Thoughts
This was my build path: Slinger -> Builder -> Warrior -> Warrior - > Settler -> Uncompleted Saka Horse Archer. That's three military units, one builder, one settler which seems pretty normal to me. What did I do wrong?
The only thing I can think of is 'I too aggressively chased eurekas', which is fair I suppose. I would have certainly kept my slinger at home if I wasn't going for the archery route. That would have been a warrior/slinger defence force with one warrior exploring. But I'm skeptical, really. The AI had five warriors around my city and about three or four scattered around Lithuania. I don't think I could have defended against that or at least for long. Maybe VI Immortal is too difficult for me? Or maybe you need to crank military instantly, instead? Go a full military path to defend against AI Aggression? But that would put you dangerously behind on the growth curve... If my two Saka Horse Archers came in earlier (chopping was definitely something I should have done if I was paying any attention - that was definitely my fault), I feel like it is likely I could have defended myself against the hordes of Greeks. But, that's with full out military boosts (25% from Pantheon, 50% from Agoge) and with the extra unit you get from being Scythia when you complete one. Could someone else have managed to defend themselves as a non-Scythian civ? Perhaps it's rhetorical, anyway. I don't think the AI should truly throttle the player in the cradle like this, in the interest of being fair. I don't think that falls into the 'play to win' argument at all - the AI gets boosts to make up for the fact that they aren't good at the game. They shouldn't immediately leverage those boosts to defeat the player instantly, making the whole charade pointless.
I feel cheated, anyway. I suppose I'll take this as a learning experience of some description, even if I'm not sure of what. Thanks for the game.
---
Didn't see any reason to hold onto a loss for a while nor edit it. Bound to be some gameplay mistakes due to being unfamiliar and my slight ineptitude. Thanks for reading.
The information on the game seems pretty typical - map script Pangaea (thankfully). My third game I was playing an island continents game and the AI was completely broken - they would rush your continent with settlers and ignore their own, which just screwed everyone over. It's one difficulty level higher then I've played on Immortal, and it's domination too. Still, apparently the game is much easier if you have fresh water. I wonder what that's like.
I'm expecting to go into this and either be smothered in the cradle or eventually quit from disgust at the 1UPT system. Let's see how it shakes out, shall we?
Not an impressive start location production wise, which is what matters for an early rush. Can't get units out if you aren't working production tiles. Lots of flat rivers, food, and two luxuries. Horses are big, for the UU. UU Horse Archer rush is definitely a go here. Both abilities are excellent. Pantheon is needed, religion isn't. Agoge + pantheon belief for 25% quicker classical unit construction will greatly favour me over the AI if the bug still isn't patched. My economy, for the record, will crash and burn from the military maintenance. Not sure how I'll deal with that, but I'm sure I can scrutinise the labyrinth that is poor documentation for an answer. Probably.
My biggest fear is being trapped in a 'there's literally city states all around me, help' situation. I want a second or third city to shoulder some of the costs. Looking at the save, we're on the border of Baltica and Ur. They're suggesting me to move down two to the south, but I'm not seeing any benefit. I misclicked and didn't show any extra tiles to make a move worthwhile. I SIP for no other reason then eventually the chocolate resource will be in my borders and with how the rivers are, I can probably get three cities on the three rivers. If I've learned anything, you should pack your cities within the 6 tile radii as much as possible. Combined industrial efforts are powerful. I immediately rename Pokrokva (a mouthful) to Lithuania. I can in no way be blamed for the map generator influencing my decision.
Begin Slinger, send Warrior north. Floodplains, desert, mountain... hm. Not a bad site for my second city. Next turn, I uncover a lot of desert hills. This looks like my second city site, and I've got floodplain food to help work those mines. Nice.
Pericles of Greece finds me (better him then Gorgo). I show him my city in the vain hope I will finally pick up an ally, even if it's just for a bit. He came from the south it looks like. Hong Kong is to my North, worrying me. C'mon, no city states to ruin my day, c'mon...
Barbarian scout pops in, great. Can't murder him since I'm off exploring. Slinger -> Builder, since I've only met Pericles and he should be pretty peaceful. Meet Hattusa, you're really starting to scare me here. Third city site spotted near Hattusa too, within six tiles of the capital and desert town. Animal Husbandry finishes, begin Horseback Riding due in... 34 turns. Yeah. Greece becomes unfriendly, and I murmur a curse at the diplomacy system under my breath.
Greece marches two warriors right up to Lithuania, uh... Can't get a warrior out to make a difference, so I keep builder in construction. For what it's worth, Slinger is right by there and my warrior was heading back home out of fear of this. I hope I don't get destroyed, I hope I don't get destroyed...
Greece does not attack (thankfully), and instead whacks a barbarian that came from behind. Code of Laws finishes, God King/+5 against barbarians (can't remember) are the two I pick. Begin Craftmanship. Greece continues to not murder me, I send Slinger south to pick up a barbarian kill to boost Archery. Worker completes, builds pasture, Horseback riding boosted, due in 11. Warrior returns to Lithuania next turn. Build Kurgan, probably a waste, but chips in +2 faith for the pantheon. I am, in fact, worried. Can't you tell?
Warrior -> Settler
Greece seems to be to the SE of me and they are running around with a lot of warriors. I am still scared. Greece moves three warriors next to the capital, I have a heart attack. Begin Mil. Tradition and Mining, begin wondering how close is too close for a city, the usual. Grab God of the Forge, not sure which cities to place first. I've got four picked out and I'm not seeing any reason to rush Pericles out the gate. I've got room.
Find Zanzibar with a noticeable lack of mercury. Greece has no less then six warriors around my city and four of them are on the tiles I'm supposed to be working. Help. Move warrior out in preparation to found my second city, since there's nothing I can do if Greece rushes me. Slinger is still hunting for barbarians (where are they?), warrior two is trying to find a city spot I like for the east of Lithuania, and warrior one was at my capital. Don't throttle me, please, please...
Greece brings up another warrior, the Baltic state screams. Find India, who is about as pacifist of a neighbour as one could get. Still has more military then one would think necessary struggling around. Jeez. Settler completes, worker cash bought, build Saka Horse Archer. We're going down fighting. Slinger continues to find citystates instead of barbarians, warrior continues to find barbarians instead of city sites. I'm thinking of making a comedy. Greece continues to insist on the Occupy Lithuania Movement, but this time with more milling warriors so my cashbought worker is useless. Nice.
Greece declares surprise war against me, yeah. I had a feeling that was going to happen. Scout takes unguarded settler because the unit spam is killer. 1UPT is my favourite mechanic. (I didn't realise at the time that Settlers and opposing enemy units don't stack. Whoops. ~ Later checking) Despite the ongoing war, Occupy Lithuania Movement mostly ends. Why? Why not, I guess. Builder is not taken despite them probably being able to do so, which was unguarded more out of a lack of military units.
I'll probably get wiped when I click next turn. One warrior attacks, bafflingly enough. It takes about 1/6th of my health bar off. Five turns until I complete my Saka Horse Archers, seven until both military units can come back. This will be tricky. Can I pull this off without horribly crippling my civilisation more then the settler capture already has?
End turn again. Lithuania is wiped by Greek warrior forces. Defeat T38, my first defeat ever in a civilisation game.
Closing Thoughts
This was my build path: Slinger -> Builder -> Warrior -> Warrior - > Settler -> Uncompleted Saka Horse Archer. That's three military units, one builder, one settler which seems pretty normal to me. What did I do wrong?
The only thing I can think of is 'I too aggressively chased eurekas', which is fair I suppose. I would have certainly kept my slinger at home if I wasn't going for the archery route. That would have been a warrior/slinger defence force with one warrior exploring. But I'm skeptical, really. The AI had five warriors around my city and about three or four scattered around Lithuania. I don't think I could have defended against that or at least for long. Maybe VI Immortal is too difficult for me? Or maybe you need to crank military instantly, instead? Go a full military path to defend against AI Aggression? But that would put you dangerously behind on the growth curve... If my two Saka Horse Archers came in earlier (chopping was definitely something I should have done if I was paying any attention - that was definitely my fault), I feel like it is likely I could have defended myself against the hordes of Greeks. But, that's with full out military boosts (25% from Pantheon, 50% from Agoge) and with the extra unit you get from being Scythia when you complete one. Could someone else have managed to defend themselves as a non-Scythian civ? Perhaps it's rhetorical, anyway. I don't think the AI should truly throttle the player in the cradle like this, in the interest of being fair. I don't think that falls into the 'play to win' argument at all - the AI gets boosts to make up for the fact that they aren't good at the game. They shouldn't immediately leverage those boosts to defeat the player instantly, making the whole charade pointless.
I feel cheated, anyway. I suppose I'll take this as a learning experience of some description, even if I'm not sure of what. Thanks for the game.
---
Didn't see any reason to hold onto a loss for a while nor edit it. Bound to be some gameplay mistakes due to being unfamiliar and my slight ineptitude. Thanks for reading.