So, game 6...
I must confess that when I saw Huyna Capac sending his settler to the coast, I immediately regretted opting for him instead of Gilgamesh.
150 turns into the game, less so.
And when he did indeed go for a cultural victory in the time frame I'd predicted...
Three events struck me as probable "freak occurences" :
1) Monty declaring on Huyna Capac.
Now, don't get me wrong : I believe that if we replay this game several times, such an attack will happen on a regular basis.
But caused by religious dissension. In those games where Monty and Huyna found the initial religions.
Here, with his second city right in Boudica's face, with Lincoln at his border... why would Monty DOW Huyna Capac ?
That said, asking why Monty does crazy things is probably akin to asking why water is wet.
2) Gilgamesh being so passive.
After his brilliant start, it took him ages to make a move, and by that time it was too little, too late.
I expected him to join Monty against Huyna Capac, or to declare on Lincoln much earlier.
That passivity turned a game that rightfully should have been his (after Huyna Capac's initial huge misplay) into a Huyna Capac's textbook win.
I'm not sure that this is a behaviour that would often be re-enacted.
3) Boudica's crazy attack on Mao.
I don't think this had that big an impact on the winner of the game (I remain convinced that in this set-up, Gilgamesh and Huyna Capac are the most likely to win), but it certainly turned the Western part of the map upside-down, and allowed Augustus to end up as the runner-up instead of Boudica or Mao.
With Monty planting in her face, a hated Lincoln next door, a metal-less and despised Augustus at her mercy... she chooses Mao ??
That must have been some dice roll !
As for Lincoln not dying first... Well, Monty was the second most likely IMO (50/25/25 Lincoln/Monty/any other AI ?), so no huge surprise there.
The thing is, while Lincoln was the "default" enemy for most of the field, he was nobody's "natural" enemy : Mao vs Augustus, Boudica vs Monty, Huyna Capac vs Gilgamesh... So there was always a chance he'd actually be left alone for quite some time.
The safest AI I believed to be Mao (metal-less Augustus wouldn't attack early, and Boudica had other much more likely targets)... and he could very well have been FTD in yesterday's game !
150 turns into the game, less so.
And when he did indeed go for a cultural victory in the time frame I'd predicted...
Three events struck me as probable "freak occurences" :
1) Monty declaring on Huyna Capac.
Now, don't get me wrong : I believe that if we replay this game several times, such an attack will happen on a regular basis.
But caused by religious dissension. In those games where Monty and Huyna found the initial religions.
Here, with his second city right in Boudica's face, with Lincoln at his border... why would Monty DOW Huyna Capac ?
That said, asking why Monty does crazy things is probably akin to asking why water is wet.
2) Gilgamesh being so passive.
After his brilliant start, it took him ages to make a move, and by that time it was too little, too late.
I expected him to join Monty against Huyna Capac, or to declare on Lincoln much earlier.
That passivity turned a game that rightfully should have been his (after Huyna Capac's initial huge misplay) into a Huyna Capac's textbook win.
I'm not sure that this is a behaviour that would often be re-enacted.
3) Boudica's crazy attack on Mao.
I don't think this had that big an impact on the winner of the game (I remain convinced that in this set-up, Gilgamesh and Huyna Capac are the most likely to win), but it certainly turned the Western part of the map upside-down, and allowed Augustus to end up as the runner-up instead of Boudica or Mao.
With Monty planting in her face, a hated Lincoln next door, a metal-less and despised Augustus at her mercy... she chooses Mao ??
That must have been some dice roll !
As for Lincoln not dying first... Well, Monty was the second most likely IMO (50/25/25 Lincoln/Monty/any other AI ?), so no huge surprise there.
The thing is, while Lincoln was the "default" enemy for most of the field, he was nobody's "natural" enemy : Mao vs Augustus, Boudica vs Monty, Huyna Capac vs Gilgamesh... So there was always a chance he'd actually be left alone for quite some time.
The safest AI I believed to be Mao (metal-less Augustus wouldn't attack early, and Boudica had other much more likely targets)... and he could very well have been FTD in yesterday's game !