Athlete's ADV56

[athlete4life10]

I'll get the reporting going I guess...

Well for a bit of some background, I’ve been away from Civ4 since I left RB over a year ago. I’ve recently found some time to play some video games again, so I picked it back up and found myself wandering back to RB to see what was going on. I’m happy to see that Civ4 still lives on strong here. I saw the end of the last tournament game (which looked fun btw) and a post by T-Hawk that it would be an easy going adventure and so I committed to myself I would get that done. Between that and ded-lurking Scooter/Pindicater/Noble in PB8 I’m getting my fill of Civ I think. That and my time is dwindling again so I don’t think I’ll be playing much in the near future but this Adventure was a great reminder as to just how fun Civ can be. I’ve no idea if I’ll be competitive or not but it was certainly fun so thank you T-Hawk! I took extra satisfaction from this one for being a Canuck too so extra thanks for the theme!

So while I waited for this adventure to come out I started several games of civ finally settling on one I thought I would enjoy. An emperor level pangaea on standard size. I won by domination (my first victory ever through warfare) so I felt I was prepared for an “easy going adventure”. When I saw it was on Monarch with the bonus of starting with workers I figured I could meet the few goals set forth. Keep everybody alive and win by Diplo no later than 1600AD. Oh and give away every single tech possible. Truthfully, the only thing I was worried about was having access to the UN in time to have a vote/victory by 1600AD.

Well I started the game with the idea to road/scout with the workers, build a bunch of settlers and aim to oracle-sling CS. I’ve done this many times in Monarch level SP games so I figured I have until about T85 to complete this before losing out on the oracle. I founded in place and immediately got to work collecting what I believe to be more than my fair share of huts. In order I received:


My first couple of cities were deployed as seen here:


I would land Stonehenge on T40:


My tech path was:
• Hunting-->Mining-->AH(popped)-->BW-->Mysticism-->Fishing-->Pottery-->Mediation-->Priesthood (EOT50)
Build orders were as follows:
•The North Pole
o Settler, Settler, Chopped Settler, Granary, Barracks (in progress at EOT50)
•Toronto
o Stonehenge, Granary, Barracks (in progress at EOT50)
•Montreal
o Granary, Workboat, Axe (in progress at EOT50)
•Ottawa
o Workboat, Granary (in progress at EOT50)



In just about every single game where I’ve used the oracle to slingshot to CS I’ve had 3 cities when I’ve completed it, maybe 4 in a best case scenario. Here I’m already out to 4 cities and it dawns on me about now, my research might slow down too much to allow me to complete the slingshot. So, I queue up Writing and proceed to chop/whip libraries while continuing to expand. I used scientists to help my tech along which worked out really well. Combined with the points from Stonehenge, it sped up when I would get my first GP. I was hoping against the odds for a GS but if I got a GP I would simply build the holy building for Confucianism (assuming I was going to land it).


And here’s a shot at T75, added on a 5th city now.


With Math coming in at the EOT I would try to nail down Masonry first before getting to CoL. So in the next ten turns I want to have researched Masonry and CoL and completed the Oracle. On top of that, I think I should be able to get at least 3 more cities down by T100.

I took a pause here and it occurred to me that I could try and plan my diplo path to victory about now. I knew Gandhi would have very few cities and I could cut him off from the others whenever needed if I could beat him to some settling races. Combine that with the fact that I could keep him from forming a religious bloc and I figured he would be the ideal candidate to run against. I form my own bloc when I land CoL and keep him isolated. Build the UN, gift it to him and voila I become the victor. Well, it didn’t quite happen that way.

As you can see from a couple of pictures above, I don’t have great odds for a GS. However when it came time for my GP, the odds proved favourable and Al-Khwarizmi was born, founding the world’s first academy in Toronto.


You can also notice that I was moving my palace from the North Pole to Toronto. When I first did this, I thought it was a great decision but seeing how the cities turned out, I’m not so sure. I didn’t realize how powerful The North Pole would become when I thought I needed to move the palace. Anyways, Toronto was made a stronger city because of it so I guess it was OK.

Well I played out the next few turns and was grateful for the academy as it helped me get CoL 2 turns faster I think. I can’t say I know if that made a difference or not but I’d like to think it did. At EOT83 I was able to do this:


The Oracle completed, research of CoL completed and I was able to slingshot to CS. I would immediately revolt to Bureaucracy but I did hold off on converting to Confucianism right away. The free missionary went to Hannibal who didn’t have a religion yet and so I felt it best to head there with him first. I wanted the culture from the other religions still so I held off on converting until I had more of my cities with Confucianism.

I don’t have anything to go by other than pictures and memory so bear with me as this report thins out from here. My playing sessions were numerous as more often than not they were very quick (~15 minutes long was a regular playing time for me). I’d spend half my time figuring out what I intended to do before moving forward. Anyways, not long after I would found Edmonton which was a key settlement for me. I had to race Frederick to get the spot and I only just beat him.


Now, I wasn’t confident in how closing borders/relocating his units would work, but I took the chance as I didn’t want him settling in my backlines. Low and behold it worked in my favour!


I don’t remember exactly how that one played out as Frederick must have been looking to settle 1SW or something as according to the picture it would seem he beat me to that spot. Anyways, I was certainly happy to have it but that didn’t mean the settling race was over. I wanted another spot to the east of Montreal that I knew I would have to rush to. Unfortunately for me though, I couldn’t find the worker turns to get a road all the way there. Even if I had though I’m not 100% certain it would have helped me.


The option to liberate Hippo was available immediately through diplo but Hannibal wouldn’t give it up as I just didn’t have enough to offer. By the time I did, I never bothered as I just gifted everything to him. Eh, it’s fine as he beat me to it. Hannibal would turn out to be my strongest ally so it’s OK that I lost the site to him.

Next up, I would land Alphabet before any AI so now to see how things stand before I start donating to charity.


I then beelined to get The Great Library, MoM and Music. I can’t recall the order I did everything but I would get them all. Moai would end up in The North Pole but I would first get the Colossus there before Moai, giving me time to plant on the stone just off the coast. Still that’s slightly ahead of myself here.
At the 1AD mark:


You can compare the above screenshot with the one before it to note any differences. Below is how things are shaping up from a relationship standpoint. Headed in the direction I want I think.


This is a view of my southern territory:


And of my northern territory:


Right after that archer completed in The North Pole, I began on the Colossus. I would end up whipping it with 3 turns left, as Metal Casting had been around for a while.


I don’t recall anybody showing up with a bunch of cash the next turn so it might have been a waste to whip it but I just let the overflow go into Moai at that point so I didn’t mind too much. The Colossus would prove to be a worthwhile wonder so I’m happy I got it. Of course, it’s entirely possible, I didn’t yet have Currency at the time so I might not have seen it even if somebody had come up with a bunch of cash.

Now my next screenshot isn’t until after 1000AD so let me try and flush this out with some verbal diarrhea. I would land The Great Library, MoM and Music. The GA from Music would trigger my first golden age but I knew it had to wait 4 or 5 turns first as I was waiting on MoM to be completed.

My first GP was a GS that built the academy in Toronto. My second was a prophet that went to Calgary and built the Confucius holy building. 3rd was a GS for an academy in Montreal (2x gems and some calendar resources, Colossus coast and lots of grassland cottages). From there I bulbed some techs. I think I bulbed some of divine right though I can’t remember if it was a priest or artist that helped it along. I used a scientist to help with physics and the scientist from physics then helped some other tech along.

Anyways, my first golden age would get me to Education at which point I whipped a bunch of universities and then got Oxford in Toronto asap. I would slow research Nationalism and build the Taj for my second GA. I could see Gandhi’s and Mansa’s tech and Mansa was the only threat to get Liberalism so I could sandbag it a fair amount. I would use my 2nd golden age from the Taj to pick up some techs along the guilds/banking line and then get constitution and printing press. It was about this time that Mansa started in on Liberalism so rather than wait; I hammered it out and got Democracy. Oh and during my second GA I swapped out of slavery for good.

I would also land the GM from Economics and send him off on a trade run to fund research:




I didn’t bother looking for the Temple of Artemis or anything; I just picked the largest city that was furthest away. I remember looking a turn or two before I netted Economics and thinking I was sending him to Mansa Musa. When it came time to do so though Mansa had whipped all of his cities significantly so maybe that was a round of banks or universities.

Anyways, moving along, my 3rd GA was from the great spy at Communism and a priest or an artist that was born. Can’t remember which. I guess it could have been a scientist as well. That basically got me to Mass Media at which point I started on the UN in Ottawa with the intention of gifting the city to Gandhi once it was built.

Oh I should say, the original plan wasn’t followed quite as well as it could have been. I didn’t start spreading Confucianism until very late. At the time of me building the UN, everybody had it spammed to them but only just barely. And only Hannibal was a true believer as it was his first religion he had access to. I figured I would have to spy bonk people into so I started hammering out some spies. Not the way I had envisioned it but I guess it’ll get the job done.

So the UN completed in Ottawa and there was a vote right away, no chance for me to gift the city first. Drat! I’m also up against Washington, whom as you can see, I just failed to convert to Confucianism (the turn before).


Well, I didn’t get it in a screenshot but at the same time give or take a turn, I spy bonked Mansa to convert to Confucianism. However, I didn’t get the brothers in faith bonus in time as Mansa and Gandhi voted for Washington. Frederick and Hannibal voted for me which was enough to get me in but Mansa not voting for me meant no diplo victory possible, despite being at friendly with him. Now, no little Confucius icon appeared by his name from the spy bonk attempt and I’m not sure why. He might have been running Free Religion so if that’s the case then maybe that’s why? Either way I investigated my options and I discovered Mansa was willing to declare war on Washington for a couple of techs I was about to give him. So of course I bribed him to do so. Next up was for me to select a motion(?) so of course it was a diplo victory option and this time, Mansa voted for me securing me the victory. Just in time too, at 1525AD.


Here are some more screenies to show how I did:






I had intended initially to found 2 more cities on the main continent. 1 on the horse in the very south and one NE of Toronto on a piece of Tundra to the coast but it had some grassland tiles around it. I had even built the improvements for this one but just never got around to settling it as I felt I never needed it. Anyways, this game was pretty fun and not very stressful which was perfect for me. No AI wars ever occurred despite everybody basically being a different religion for most of the game. A couple times I thought Mansa or Washington might declare but they never did. Oh and not that it mattered for this game but I also got Magellan’s bonus. Yay me.

So for my scoring I believe it is as follows:
Tech Gifts: 169
Diplo Victory: 10
Total Score: 179

This was fun and I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks again T-Hawk! I don't expect to be overly competitive but if I'm only going up against myself and a T-Hawk shadow I guess I win right?

[Qgqqqqq]

Looks awesome!

What was the strength of the tundra that you mentioned when building the palace?
What was the twist?

[athlete4life10]

Looks awesome!

Thanks, it was fun to play!

What was the strength of the tundra that you mentioned when building the palace?

The North Pole in the end game (keep in mind I had the Collossus boosting it for half the game + a never experienced BigB):


Then Toronto at the end game (where all my Beaurocracy bonus went):


I really don't know if it would have been better to keep the palace in The North Pole or not. I'm certainly interested to see what others have done.

What was the twist?

T-Hawk had an all Canadian City naming theme pre-programmed into the game. I really enjoyed that

[T-hawk]

Hey Athlete, always good to see an old veteran back around.

Truthfully, the only thing I was worried about was having access to the UN in time to have a vote/victory by 1600AD.

You didn't have to win by 1600 AD of course, that was just the deadline for score in order to cut off late game milking. Looks like I actually overshot on picking that date, I built the UN a fair bit before then and so did you.

You started building settlers right at size 1? Interesting... I'd think the deer tiles would be strong enough to warrant growing to at least 3 if not 4. It takes 22 and 24 food to add the first two tiles, which each pay back in settler foodhammers after just 8 turns.

You can also notice that I was moving my palace from the North Pole to Toronto. When I first did this, I thought it was a great decision but seeing how the cities turned out, I’m not so sure. I didn’t realize how powerful The North Pole would become when I thought I needed to move the palace. Anyways, Toronto was made a stronger city because of it so I guess it was OK.

I moved it too, although to a different location farther south. I think it was correct, certainly given the scoring goals for the game. The best way to trade a lot of techs is to research a lot of techs to trade, and Bureaucracy could produce a lot more commerce elsewhere than North Pole.

The option to liberate Hippo was available immediately through diplo but Hannibal wouldn’t give it up as I just didn’t have enough to offer.

I don't think the AIs will ever trade for a city to be liberated. Not sure why the diplo screen even allows the option, I've never seen it be possible.

Now, no little Confucius icon appeared by his name from the spy bonk attempt and I’m not sure why. He might have been running Free Religion so if that’s the case then maybe that’s why?

That's it. Free Religion interacts oddly with religion changing. A civ in FR still has a hidden state religion, which a spy can change, but it doesn't have any effect unless the civ switches back to a different religious civic. You could have also spy-bonked Mansa out of FR into your religious civic; I've done that move sometimes to get brothers-in-faith credit.

This was fun and I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks again T-Hawk! I don't expect to be overly competitive but if I'm only going up against myself and a T-Hawk shadow I guess I win right?

Yup, pretty much.

[Qgqqqqq]

Yeah I think moving it was right.

Someone (regoarrarr?) mentioned an AI out of the blue gifting a city on deity once.

[athlete4life10]

Hey Athlete, always good to see an old veteran back around.

Hey I've reached verteran status !

Truthfully, the only thing I was worried about was having access to the UN in time to have a vote/victory by 1600AD.

You didn't have to win by 1600 AD of course, that was just the deadline for score in order to cut off late game milking. Looks like I actually overshot on picking that date, I built the UN a fair bit before then and so did you.

I just had 1600AD fixated in my head as a deadline and I must have transferred that over as my deadline to win. It's funny how the brain works because I can remember thinking when I first saw the adventure that I could play past it but my scoring stops at 1600AD.

You started building settlers right at size 1? Interesting... I'd think the deer tiles would be strong enough to warrant growing to at least 3 if not 4. It takes 22 and 24 food to add the first two tiles, which each pay back in settler foodhammers after just 8 turns.

I've no idea of how the math works behind it. I'm not sure I've ever clearly wrapped my head around the math of that part of the game (and here isn't the thread to learn, though I might read a link to an article I guess). To me all of warriors, workers and barracks seemed pointless to build at size 1 so what else was there to build? Settler just seemed to me to be a natural fit. You can run a decent farmers gambit on Monarch for a while so I was never really concerned about getting attacked.

I don't think the AIs will ever trade for a city to be liberated. Not sure why the diplo screen even allows the option, I've never seen it be possible.

I believe I have done it once before in an SP game a long time ago...or maybe I just want to think I did...

[T-hawk]

To me all of warriors, workers and barracks seemed pointless to build at size 1 so what else was there to build?

Another population point was the thing to build. You could add a good tile for 22 food, instead of 100 units into a settler. Trickle the hammers into a warrior, you'll need it eventually for police duty.

Good reading on the topic is SevenSpirits' analysis here: http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=4876

[Ronald]

This was a very nice game Athlete. I am pretty sure you would have beat my score if you had postponed the UN vote until 1600 AD.

[Thoth]

You can also notice that I was moving my palace from the North Pole to Toronto. When I first did this, I thought it was a great decision but seeing how the cities turned out, I’m not so sure.

Serves you right for trying to turn a craphole like Toronto into a real city. [/CanuckHumour]