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As a French person I feel like it's my duty to explain strikes to you. - AdrienIer |
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Civ6 Adventure 1 - Egypt. Game complete :)
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There will be a text report after I finish the game, but for now, let's see how streaming goes
 Going live shortly https://www.twitch.tv/yuris125
Streaming didn't go as well as I hoped - OBS kept going down, saying that the video drivers has reset or crashed. I think I know some things to try, and hopefully fix this - I am keen to stream more Civ6. But for now... it wasn't to be, not properly
I played 100 turns today, and here's the report. One thing I neglected during the stream was taking screenshots. I ended up taking them from OBS recording, but they are quite low res. Hope it's not too annoying Egypt start:  This is a relatively easy SIP. The only reason to consider moving I see is that we would settle on forest, thus wasting it. But any move wastes a turn for no obvious benefits. I don't particularly want to settle on a resource, nor on flood plains, and the tile SW, the only alternative I would consider, is the best visible spot for a campus. So after moving the Warrior and not seeing anything of note, I SIPped My brave exploring Warriors traversed the desert and came across this spot, which they found worth pinning down as a future city location  In the meantime, those who stayed behind in the capital felt uneasy with so much unknown land. They decided to send a scout, who would repeal the fog and bring news of faraway lands. That he did; funnily enough he managed to miss our closest neighbour, Rome, who're due south of the Scout's location  Early build order in the capital was Scout-Slinger-Builder-Settler, which seems close to the standard opening, inasmuch as there can be a standard opening on the first day after release T15 our nations assembled its code of laws, and set up the first government  Again, these are the most popular choices for Civ6's day 1 - getting advantage against barbs and starting on the way towards pantheon Our scouting units eventually found the first neighbour, Kongo, who stole the barb camp we were trying to clear  The generals thought it was going to be a decisive victory, but fell just short. Guess they weren't great generalsThen an American Slinger showed up, except he pretended to be unable to understand normal human speach and refused to talk to us  Seriously, I moved next tile to the Slinger next turn, and the game still didn't recognise it as contact. Rome actually introduced themselves to us over the next few turns, only then did the game recognise that we also were in contact with America Scouting continued, and we found another reasonable tile, in the middle of the desert, but on the coast, next to an oasis, with gypsum and bananas nearby and rice a little farther away. This ticked off a lot of the boxes, and the Warrior pinned the spot down, aptly naming it "Untitled Pin 1"  Here's one of the more annoying things about the game. I try to be understanding and find justification for design decisions, most of them aren't unreasonable anyway, but there's just no way to justify some things. Can you find the goody hut in the screenshot below?  I missed it, then found it after seeing the notification, then by the time the turn rolled I forgot about it and, as I found out while re-watching the stream recording, ended up not taking it. This happened in videos of the pre-release version as well, and I was certain Firaxis were going to fix it before release. But no. Here's to hoping it's improved in an early patch (the hut is on the tile NE of the Scout) On T32, we finally founded our second city. In the meantime, the Slinger was exploring the western area, and ran into some magnificent beasts. We immediately drew up plans for domesticating them  And on T38, our people's beliefs in higher forces became strong enough to formalise them and start worshipping the gods. I almost missed the new pantheon, Lady of the Reeds and Marshes. But did spot it in the end, and it is fantastic in my situation (and should be excellent in most Egypt games considering their flood plains bias)  Further plans for expansion were drawn up, and Settlers scheduled to be trained in both cities (for "Untitled Pin 1" and the horses). But that's where the stream crashed for the final time. Here's the final screenshot where it froze, with Settler construction just starting  It is also notable that I'm close to finishing Political Philosophy in this screenshot. A few turns later, when it finished I took Classical Republic as my government. I expect Classical Republic is going to be the most popular first tier government - unless you're going for a heavily militaristic gameplan or intend to build a lot of wonders, there's no reason to pick either of the other two governments. When you're planning for long game, you usually want more economic policies than militaristic ones in your early-midgame government, and Classical Republic doesn't have a militaristic slot and has two economic slots. Just want a peaceful leader needs I went perhaps too extreme on economic policies, filling up those economic spots with Settler- and Builder-boosting options Here's the T60 screenshot, which shows those two new cities I settled a few turns ago  Also note the American Settler coming towards me from the west. He is going to be relevant.... I kept developing economy and expanding, but mostly was going without a master plan. Shedef built Pyramids for no particular reason other than it seemed useful. This is a drawback of not playing any practice games before starting on the adventure - even though I watched pre-release videos and knew plenty of what the game was about, I couldn't make a focused and coherent plan I lucksacked into a Settler stolen by barbs (likely from Rome), built a couple of me own, and added two more cities to the east. Here's how the east looked on T91  Note my Settler on the northern coast between Ra-Kedet and Thebes. Also note that American Settler. This is the same Settler I drew your attention to 30 turns ago My Settler was going for the wheat-rich river valley due south from the American Settler. I thought America was going to settle there, but they moved around and ended up moving away. So I hoped I would get that spot despite starting towards it late I did get the spot. Then all hell broke loose First, just a couple of turns after I settled the city, Rome declared war. Funnily enough, until then, I had the best relationship with Rome, as my rapid expansion agreed with their agenda. We even had a declaration of friendship for a term. I saw them moving Spearmen around, but didn't think they were going to declare. Guess they weren't happy about me settling next door to them Then America moved their Settler to the north of my capital, settled right in my face, then declared on me as well. So much for a passive AI. Both were surprise wars too. Scary thing, America captured Zanzibar, the city state which appeared in earlier screensot, just a few turns ago. So they do have an army Will I survive without losses? To be continued.....
The AI's settler spent over 40 turns wandering around... and then settled *inside* your borders ?!??
Well it's not actually inside my borders, that would be illegal
but yeah, 4 tiles away from my capital and right next to two of my cities. Don't know what was that with all the wandering. I could've forced the issue by buying that iron tile when the Settler was passing by, but didn't have spare 115g at the time, and didn't think it was important enough to go sell some luxes
Last time we looked at situation in this game, my second city, Shedet, was under attack from multiple American units, and there were a couple of Roman Spearmen threatening Akhetaten, a newly built city in the east. Well, I'm sorry to say that while we defended bravely, neither city held. My Archers, freshly created out of thin air, did their best, but the assault of American Heavy Chariots was too strong, and Akhetaten's defences were no strong enough to defend even against just two Spearmen
Frankly, I deserved what came. I knew cities in Civ6 couldn't bombard enemy units without city walls. What I didn't know is that a) city defences are significantly weaker than in Civ5, so even relatively weak melee units attacking cities don't take that much damage, and b) city walls cannot be rush bough (you can rush buy units and buildings which go inside districts, you cannot rush buy districts themselves and special non-district buildings like walls). It seems like Civ6 punishes cardboard cutout defences more than any previous versions, with early game barbs being much more of a nuisance, and AIs being willing to take advantage of a player with weak military (not very successfully, but that's a different matter). Which is a good thing - for once farmer gambit won't be the one right choice, and player will have to find the edge and build just the right amount of military, just enough to deter aggression. I did the better in the follow-up game I played on King, while thinking about the correct approach to this one. And hopefully will continue improving Anyway, back to this one. Civ6 diplo has already been maligned, quite deservedly. One thing it's weak at is negotiating peace. Rome took my city, moved their Spears towards my capital, I did have a couple of units there and killed them, and they came knocking with the following offer  Needless to say, I snap signed. American forces were still moving all over the western front, threatening multiple cities. Having east secured and getting my city back was really all I could ask for. Peace on T107 Now for the American front, tides were slowly turning. They captured the city on T103, and from there, we were dancing the dance of me catching their units in range of my ranged units, and them sniping my ranged units with their heavy chariots whenever possible. I didn't manage to find any key moments to screenshot, but the number of American units was slowly dwindling, and on T113 I was able to start my bid to recapture the city  One notable thing in this screenshot is that I'm researching Stirrups, thinking that my UU upgrades to Knights. Now the first problem with this is that Knights in Civ6 require iron, not horses, and I didn't have iron at that point. The second is that while Egyptian UU does replace heavy chariot, and heavy chariot does upgrade to knight; however, because the UU is a ranged unit, it takes ranged promotions, and its upgrade path is adjusted - it upgrades to medieval ranged unit, the Crossbowman. I even saw it when I was looking up the unit, but promptly forgot, and researched the tech I didn't need as a result. RTFM was never this relevant One thing I fortunately did not forget is that I needed a melee unit to capture the city. Note the Pike to the left of the screen. He did have a mission there, but was going to show up at the Shedef theatre just at the right moment, exactly when his services were needed T115 screenshot - barbs are joining the fray...  T118 - American units down, just the barb left to disrupt my units T120 - 4 of my UUs made a quick work knocking down Shedef's defences, and the city is back to its rightful owner!  The turn after, Teddy came with his peace offer  Once again, very favourable. I would've taken a white peace. But since he's paying, can I make it even better?  Oh yes I can! So... not quite without losses, but eventually I got out of the wars with an extra city Now the annoying part about war in Civ6 is that the enemy pillages your districts. In the previous versions, you just send the Workers to rebuild (or repair) the improvements that were pillaged. That still needs to be done in Civ6 for tile improvements - but pillaged districts and buildings inside them have to be rebuilt using city's production. And just as I was finishing rebuilding efforts.... Vicky showed up with her own surprise war declaration  This time I actually had some units to defend, and did research Machinery for Crossbows. The only question was, was I going to be able to get the walls up in Swenett? If so, I wasn't going to lose the city Here are my two heroic units, defending against the English throng  While all this was happening, I researched (cultured?) the Exploration civic, and was able to switch to a government with actual military policy slots. Here's how the policies looked on T138 (Bastions was a temporary measure to make sure I wasn't going to lose Swenett)  T140 - the walls are up!  And shortly thereafter, yet another favourable peace. Honestly, AI needs to start negotiations with a white peace, not with offering the player all gold and luxuries it has 
T150 overview:
East  West (quite a few distrcits are still pillaged, restoration works are in progress)  Southern area. When I was taking screenshots, I was still eyeing it for expansion. Until I looks at the rankings. Also of note - that road circle to the west of Zanzibar? Don't think it appeared in any of the screenshots, but there was an English city there - I didn't notice its absence until it was missing even in the oldest autosave. They weren't at war with anyone except me, and I didn't capture it. I think it was razed by barbs. There was a barb Catapults moving around, maybe that's where it came from...  Science rankings  Frankly, this is the point where I lost the will to spend the effort on further expansion. I spend a good half of the last 50 turns at war, and it's a hot war, not a fake. And I'm still ahead by this far?! And I need to spend production on repairing my districts? I can just tech to space developing the 8 cities I have Perhaps this wasn't the most thrilling decision for reporting purposes. But I'm already at about halfway point of the game, would need to spend 30ish turns on settling the land I have (which is not even that amazing) and make future districts in the core cities more expensive to build. I also wanted to see how an 8 cities empire which was involved in active wars would compare to 12 cities empire which only was involved in quick wars from the other game The scoreboard at T150 further confirms that expansion is no longer necessary to win 
One details you may have noticed in the above screenshots is that I have a great prophet chilling in the capital. I got him some turns ago, but didn't realise I had to have a holy site to use him. Frankly, I feel like religion is a distraction in Civ6 - unless you play a full on religion game, heavily focusing on faith production and buying Apostles to defend and spread your religion. There's pretty much nothing you can do with religion without holy sites, which are not a worthwhile for a non-religion game. I went through the other game without building a single Holy Site, and their absence wasn't detrimental in any way. In this game, because Egypt has a unique tile improvement which gives faith, I thought it would be nice to spend that faith on my religion. A mistake - it would've been better spent on a great person patronage, without committing anything to religion I couldn't defend
But who knew. This game is for trying things after all I finished the holy site and popped the prophet on T154 Not a lot of choice here - a consequence of taking religion so late. I was bumping into amenities cap already, so took that  More choice here. Thought a building was a default choice, like in Civ5, so took Gurdwara, which seemed the most useful building available. Also a mistake, because buildings can only be bought in a holy site with a Temple. So I needed to invest hammers into a Shrine and a Temple to just get Gurdwara in the capital. Couldn't get it anywhere else as didn't want to invest in more holy sites Same turn, T154, we see a start of a major war against Kongo. In general, AI seemed quite aggressive in my game - I mean, there were 3 declarations just against me in the first 150 turns! Passive AI indeed....  Kongo lost its capital to China, and Rome decided to try and grab some of their land as well  Here my Crossbowman want to check on the barb camp which has been in the south for ages. That was a little too much to chew...  Crossbow spent half a dozen turns shooting. Then an English heavy chariot showed up. He didn't think twice about it and kept shooting. Then Kongo and England went and declared a joint war against me. Kongo of all people, they were already involved in two wars! The Crossbow died, but remained the only victim of this war for many many turns. The usual joint war stuff Come on Vicky, what are you doing, you crazy lady  That body of water which I thought was my northern way to the ocean... that ended up being a big lake. Note Venetian Arsenal under construction in Thebes. I got a great engineer for it, and Thebes seemed the best coastal city to build the wonder. Who knew it wasn't a proper coast...  T183 - this is becoming a proper dogpile against Kongo  Funnily enough, they didn't end up losing any cities apart from the capital. Not that it wasn't enough. They eventually made peace with me. Didn't take the screenshot, but it was the usual stuff, them giving me a small amount of gpt. These joint wars seem like they're designed to make the AIs give the player some gold. As Smeagol once said, "Give me fish now, and keep nasstry chips!"
T202 quick overview (because I missed T200)
The west  The east  Developing nicely, albeit slowly Now you may have noticed some unconventional tech choices in the screenshots above (Flight in 1220AD? com on!), so I thought I'd show what I was doing. Tech victory in Civ6 requires 5 expensive projects. That's not a big problem; what is a problem is that the first two have to be done in order, and the final three cannot be started until the first two are done. Also this doesn't count as part of victory condition, but each city which will work on space projects requires a Starport district, which is also expensive (2000 hammers base cost, which goes up just as for every other district) So after I won by space in my other game, and had the cities working on random stuff, waiting for the highest production city to complete those first two projects, I realised that the techs required for Starport and the first two projects can be researched completely ignoring the bottom half of the tech tree. I'm pretty sure this is the optimal path to the tech victory - at some point in medieval or industrial era (exact best moment to be determined) forget about other research, and give your full attention to beelining Satellites. Start the Starport district in the highest production city as soon as you get Rocketry, and focus it on space projects. After Satellites, backfill the missing techs. They are all still required for the final techs, but you can research them while building the Starport and the first two projects, which I would estimate to take around 60 turns So here's how the tech tree looks on T202. I have a tech missing in Medieval era, and all techs in the bottom two rows of the tech tree after thus point are missing  In the meantime, in the top half I went all the way to the modern era, and have the tech path scheduled all the way to Satellites  So that's what's going on with tech. Will report how well this approach worked
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Some nice REXing there too. Will be interesting to see how it pays off.