Here are your starting positions. Everything in the fog is highly likely to change. Even things visible can change, but nature of the starts will remain as well as the visible resources.

I can't find a definite answer in the manual, but I need to know, does putting resources into Computer to get a higher attack rating make bombs more effective?
I hope not...

I'll post my report later, but I want to put the relevant scoring data first. Hopefully that's Ok.

370: Each barbarian city captured: 37 x 10pts
370: Each kept to the end: 37 x 10pts (I lost a city but racaptured it)
100: Build Versailles: Yes
300: Build Versailled in the New World: Yes
100: Build Forbidden Palace in the New World: Yes
150: Each World Wonder in the New World: Statue of Liberty, Broadway and Kremlin
50: Build the Colossus: Yes
150: Earn circumnavigation bonus: Yes
500: Win by Domination: Yes

Dates for possible bonus points:
Date of circumnavigation: 840AD (turn 152)

Hi, I recently got ckII, but I have been failing so far in my attempts to get into a good position. In my most recent game, I tried playing as the Byzantines, but ended up getting deposed by half the empire. What are some good early goals to get into a strong position, where should I start, and what type of vassals should I keep?

Scoring summary:

Captured all 35 barbarian cities in the New World, and never lost any: 700 pts
Versailles in New World: 400? (Right? I believe Qqqq's answers is that the 100+300 points stack, but not the 50 for 'each wonder in the new world)
FP in New World: 100
Other wonders in New World: 550
(Spiral Minaret, Taj Mahal, Kremlin, Broadway, SoL, Hollywood, Rock 'n Roll, Cristo, Eiffel, UN, Hollywood)
Won Circumnavigation: 150
Domination: 500

Subtotal: 2300

'Fastest' dates:
Circumnavigated in 1040AD. (Shame on the community if I get any points for this...) - 0 Pts
Captured 1st New World city in 700AD - 0 Pts
Owned all New World cities in 1360AD - 2nd place/400 pts

Super-sub-total: 2700

Won 1555AD - Turn 221 - bonus is (500-221) * .2 = 55.8 %
Grand Total - 4206.6

Sponsor: RefSteel, with thanks to toddestan for the inspiration!
Opening Date: Monday, February 25, 2013
Duration: Four Weeks
Patch: OPTIONAL! (Official version 1.3 OR kyrub's patch 1.4M)

Difficulty: Two different maps are available; you can play either or both (e.g. using the gentler map A as a warm-up to get used to the variant, or as a fall-back in case you get slaughtered on the extreme map B). See the posts below for the details of each.

Scenario: The amazing Sakkra powers of reproduction - the fastest of any race in the galaxy - come at a price: The emerald light of their home star of Sssla - or at least of a star just like it - is a necessary part of the reproductive process. As a result, civillian populations can only inhabit worlds that orbit green stars.

Scoring: None. Results will be listed in alphabetical order.

Notes: Saved games are cross-compatible between the regular (Version 1.3) unpatched game and kyrub's 1.4M patch, because kyrub is frankly amazing. (Yes, compatibility has been tested many times, including again just now by me.) Feel free to play this Imperium using EITHER version of the game - whichever you prefer.

[EDIT: Further information on each map, with opening screenies and save files, are posted below.]

[VERY LATE EDIT] Obviously I'm getting rusty at this whole Posting Imperia thing. Here, finally, are the necessary links to the Intro to the Imperia and rules for participating. Exceptions to the rules can be made for individual games of course, as in this case when we're allowing kyrub's 1.40M patch to be used instead of 1.3 by anyone who so wishes. Also please avoid the tactics banned in our exploits list (a list of ways we've found of taking advantage of bugs or massive and obvious holes in the AI which we've agreed not to use since they're not in keeping with the spirit or fun of the game). On closing day, you can post your report as a new thread in the Reports and Discussion forum.[/EDIT]

Adventure 57: Compromise's Report

As I mentioned in the forum, I loved this event. Interesting setup, appropriate civ/leader, and good variant scoring.

At the opening, the first few plays seemed obvious: Settle in place for the Corn, the Cows, the floodplains. Techwise: Agriculture -> Animal Husbandry seemed clear.

Whenever huts are on, and there is any kind of hammer bonus at the start, I go for a warrior before a worker. This is doubly true if there's the likelihood of stealing a worker. Worked a forest to get the warrior out in 5 turns.

On turn 16, the early hut popping had gone well. I think I had a scout and some gold. And we had this opportunity:



Thank you Justinian, we would be interested in boosting our workforce. And our isolationist, imperialist, barbarian-like civilization was off to making a bad name for ourselves and bringing a true Raging Barbarians experience to the neighbors.

This being Monarch, and our scout having found a new victim, and having little confidence that the worker would survive the running of the lions to get home, and wanting to slow down all of our neighbors, we raced off to find another victim in Isabella. Just as we were about to take her elephant-herder, we finished researching Animal Husbandry:



Note: we had popped Bronzeworking from a hut, and had found no Copper nearby. That wasn't too surprising but this...neither copper nor horses anywhere near the capital for a raging barbs game?! Wow. This was surprising to the point of shock, especially since the start seemed to scream "go for horses!"

This was the first point at which I realized I would love this event. I figured the barb warriors and archers would replace animals around turn 40, and soon start entering city limits. Now, at turn 20, we had no credible barb defense other than a good production site and...warrior-building technology.

Also, I noted a dearth of early happiness resources. This was a game to make you think....

I briefly considered a run at the Great Wall, but realized that without Stone or the Industrious trait, it would be a close call, especially if some AI had either advantage.

Speaking of the AI...where was everybody? Isn't this supposed to be Terra where everyone is on the first landmass?

So, I hit the books, calculating how long it would take to get additional settlers out and up. It had taken an hour to play the first 20 turns, and it took almost another hour to play this turn. In the end, I decided to set up two more cities: a production city just north of the capital, and a horse-grabbing city. The only thing that would change this would have been finding a better spot south of the capital, but...no. Even when I did discover the Copper on the coast, it still seemed better to hem in Justinian with a Horse grab.

And where was everybody?! As I cleared visibility on the coast, I realized I was truly playing isolationist...I'd stolen workers from both nearby AIs...and that meant no trade routes with the other AIs until Astronomy. Oooops.

Well...the best defense is a good offense, so we set to learning about roads, getting good production online and going for the horses.

Our second city was poorly named...should have been 'No-porto':



I played very carefully and kept re-thinking of ideas. Finally, I settled on an ambitious extension to the original plan... Anyway, six hours after starting to play, founded a horse city:



Horses came online on Turn 40, exactly according to plan. Fortunately, the barb menace didn't start in earnest for a few more turns yet.

After AH, tech was: The Wheel (to connect things), Pottery (to pay for things, Mysticism (to pop borders), Hunting (for Beaver pelts), and Poly-Priesthood (for the Oracle).

Fortune favors the bold, and we had pretty good commerce with river cottages and beaver camps, so we decided to go for Carracks as quickly as possible. Quick in game-turns, of course, because it took all day to play this first session. But it ended in some of the most nerve-wracking End Turn presses in a long turn.

This marked the end of the first session of play:



and I actually turned Play Movies back on for:



Man that was intense. And fun. And took a lot of micromanaging. Very cool event. I don't think I could have gotten to Machinery faster, and that's a lotta beakers. And it took over 12 hours--off and on--of a Saturday.

================================ end of session 1 ============================

Now it was time to aim for some scoring goals: circumnavigation and acquiring a city on the barb mainland.

Machinery opens up crossbows, but they need Iron. Crossbows were part of the plan for the new world, so I needed to see where the Iron was.

Because of the push to get Machinery from the Oracle, I couldn't block Justinian from effectively sealing off the land between him and Isabella:



This was disappointing because my worker-stealing was going to mean I'd never have open borders with either Justinian or Isabella, and therefore no trade routes with the other AIs until Astronomy.

Oh well. Another side-benefit of the worker stealing and the use of chariots was getting a fairly early Great General. The first came to Lisbon on T77, 1 turn before Ironworking.

Iron did exist, and in the capital on a hill shared with Oporto...the capital-food-sharing production city. Nice. This meant Archery was the next tech.

Then Sailing, Compass, and Optics. Optics finished on Turn 104, 775BC.

Post-Optics plan:



The above screenshot show the many of the irons I had in the fire. Before being eaten by wild animals, a hut-popped scout had found some coast east of Justinian and Isabella. This land was shockingly empty. While I'd met Hammurabi and Pacal troops, I hadn't seen any cultural borders or even met the last two AIs. So, I'd sent two workers, two chariots, and a settler out to the coast. I hoped to find a coastal spot with at least two forests to chop.

The goal, of course, was to chop out a Carrack and then gift a crap city to one of the AIs. This turned out to be much more stressful and less productive than I'd hoped. In fact, here is the end of that adventurous city:



I'd lost my Sentry chariot to a barb archer when I'd had better than 97% odds. Then, the barbs sprouted a Spearman. To add to that, only Pacal was willing to accept this terrible city...and he was Hammurabi's worst enemy. In the end, I decided take the +4 diplo with Pacal and suffer Hammy's ire. Well, I sent one Worker back toward home on a suicide mission, loaded the other in the Carrack with the last remaining Chariot, and headed off into the sunrise.

I'm not sure this gambit was helpful, but it added some excitement.

I got a little ahead of myself though, because some of the main action was happening back in the capital. Whipped from scratch for 3 population in Lisbon was our first Carrack. To him was added our Great General from the early worker wars. He was given the promotions: Flanking 1, Navigation 1, Navigation 2, and Morale, for +3 movement and a total movement rate of 6 spaces per turn.

To him were added a barracks-buffed xbow and a Settler, and they set off to the southwest to plant that first city in the new world.

Ooooooh boy....



Oh. My. God. That is a helluva lotta barbarians. If the whole new world is filled like that, then we are in a load of trouble.

Well, nothing to do at this point but press on and look for a hill to settle on.

It looked like only the easternmost new world cities had such massive stacks of promoted archers. A bit further west, we found a promising spot:



The nearby city had two archers, the nearby barb stack had 2 archers. Maybe we'd be okay? I landed the xbow, and noticed that it had about 80% attack odds on the barb hill archers. I figured that was good enough, and so unloaded the settler also.

The nearby barb archers wandered off (!), and so on Turn 108, we founded:



...TheFoothold. Our first city in the new world. Founded boldly in the midst of the barbarian heartland in 175BC. Now...if only it will survive!

One Combat I xbow was unlikely to hold, even fortified in a hill city, so I needed reinforcements. I'd started work on more xbows and another Carrack as soon as I could, but that wouldn't be enough time to save TheFoothold. So, I had to rely on another of those irons in the fire:

Behold the forgineer:



34 turns of working an engineer specialist in the capital after chop/whipping a forge way back during Oracle times, lead inevitably to:



...the Pyramids. This may be our salvation. Yes. It will. Revolt immediately to Universal Suffrage. Bring in the voters for our...Slave-ocracy. Regardless, this almost certainly saves The Foothold since I cash-rush an Archer to help on defense until the additional xbows arrive.

This works. The Foothold survives. And prospers. While I'd been tempted to let it fall to the barbarians after it achieved its ten turns and border pop, it turned out to be a pretty good magnet for barbarian troops. And a hub for new world operations. Once two more crossbows arrived in 1AD (turn 115), the Foothold was never again in serious jeopardy.

All of this is what I'd meant in my forum post about hurting my head. Between the hut chasing, the worker stealing (and home-routing), the wonder-planning, the barb spawnbusting, the Great Engineer running, the Carrack gambits, etc, etc. Wow. Very intense, very fun.

After cash-rushing a defender (and a Monument?) in the new world, we ran Representation. More for the bonus happiness than the specialist beakers.

Turn 117, in 50AD, brought the announcement that we'd circumnavigated the globe:



The next gambit I tried was to found a religion in the New World. I thought this might help pop borders once I started taking barbarian cities. Also, the old world was Buddhist (Pacal and Gilgamesh), Jewish (Hammurabi and Genghis) and useless (Justinian and Isabella), so no real need for another AI-founded religion. But, when I got to Code of Laws first, I founded Confucianism in Coimbra down near the floodplains Goldmine rather than in the New World.

After CoL, I research Math and Currency. The extra trade routes were helpful, in the old world, at least. Continued abuse of the Byzantines and Spanish brought another Great General in 350AD, though to be honest I think I forgot about him until much much later.

In 500AD, a few more points, and some much needed insta-commerce in new cities:



760AD brought us another forge/Pyramids/few-turns-of-Colossus engineer. I burned him on about 13 turns worth of research into Engineering.

There was a fair bit of tech trading with the AI in the first millenium, and I think I even popped Aesthetics from a hut with a spy wandering through the new world, but for the most part, the few new world huts weren't useful. In fact, it looks like barbarian culture pops huts? Weird.

Finally, in 820AD, it was time to start the assault on the new world in earnest. A 3-Carrack landing party dropped off the first wave:

In addition to the occasional mini-stack of archers, then axes and swords, the AI had been stacking troops in both the city to the east and the city to the southwest of the Foothold. And while barbarian workers had started to clear out forests for cottages and farms throughout the new world, there was still a coastal forest near this eastern barb city:



So, here it was...the first real assault in the new world. 6 maces dropped off in the forest next to 5 axes, a spear, and 17 archers. When the dust settled, all 6 maces survived, having won about 20 battles in a row. 4 of the 6 maces had been produced with barracks, and after the barbarian slaughter, all 6 could get two promotions. Barbarian city raiders!

Another of the complexities of this scenario was the lack of happiness resources. Not only were there not too many available to us in the old world, there weren't that many available to us in the new world. At least not without Astronomy. But astronomy was expensive, and it would obsolete the Colossus.

And somehow, I noticed that I *did* occasionally get trade routes through Byzantine and Spanish lands. I'm not sure how that was possible, since they each had some -18 "You declared war on us!" diplo modifiers with me? But I had trade routes with AIs who had open borders with them?

Also, without old world Copper or Iron, I could make hereditary rule warriors in the new world for happiness. This was a great boon, and hammer-cheap.

So Astronomy wasn't that compelling, and I concentrated on military techs instead. Specifically: Guilds, and thereby: Knights.

Oh, but that was after losing the race for the Music Great Artist by 2 turns. That was foolish. I should've prioritized that, but Gilgamesh got the Artist (in 920AD) and its Golden Age instead of me. Grrr.

Turn 164 brought our third great person: A Prophet, fueld by many Oracle points and a temple specialist. And a tiny bit of forgineering too. On the way to Divine Right, I hoped to not only get a border-popping shrine going in the New World, but also reduce the temptation for the AIs to get the Versailles-enabling tech.

And...



Yes! Islam is founded in the New World, in our original city. Time to ship over the Prophet.

The Apostolic Palace was built by Buddhist Gilgamesh in 1150AD. It really didn't play too much of a role in the game, although I think at some point everybody declared on Justinian because of it.

From this point on, the game became a lot of mouseclicks. Maces took many of the northeastern barb cities. Warriors sentried on islands kept barb cities from spawning there. Isabella was confined to her capital for a very long time by a single Woodsman III warrior who kept her from improving her pigs.

Genghis Khan did help out in the 1100s by declaring on his "friend" Hammurabi. We built the Hanging Gardens in Lisbon in 1170AD.

In 1190AD, we were ready to lure the other barbarian stack into battle:



Guilds came in in 1210AD, and a few mobile Knights started to help the Macemen take barbarian cities in the old world.

Gilgamesh, the Apostolic Palace leader, got Astronomy in 1270AD.

With the major barb stacks eliminated, the Carrack-shipped maces slowly fought their way through the new world. I kept every city. By 1400AD, I had taken about a third of the barbarian cities.

A routine check of the AI trade possibilities revealed that Genghis was willing to go back to war. Foolishly, I executed this trade:



...before completing the trade for Astronomy with his new enemy:



Fortunately, there were really no "worst enemy" penalties at this point in the game. I don't really know why, but it enabled a few minor tech-for-gold trades and resource-for-gold trades that kept my income stream high.

Keeping Gilgamesh busy along his long border with Genghis was nice, but I had no units giving me intelligence on the situation.

I always wait too long to get Astronomy. It was a huge boost. From +128gpt at 0% research before the trade to +208gpt after, even though the Colossus expired. Of course, I don't remember exactly what I did, and there were always former-barbarian cities coming online. On Monarch difficulty, and with barbarian cities tending to be size 8 or 9 after capture and working many hamlets and villages, the usual policy was to either build culture to pop a border or, if the city couldn't feed itself on the core 8 tiles, whip a courthouse.

All those new-world courthouses meant plenty of espionage points, so I usually knew what Hammurabi (my arch-nemesis) and Gilgamesh (the leading AI) were researching.

In 1450AD, I did whip away a couple people in The Foothold to be sure I got Versailles. I saved two turns:



In 1460AD, just after the completion of Versailles, I also got another Great Engineer. And both Gilgamesh and Genghis got Great Generals. Yay!! The bribe to war actually worked!

But then, in 1470AD, Gilgamesh called for an end to hostilities via the Apostolic Palace. Grumble, grumble, peace. Rats. The AI tech pace did manage to remain hampered a little though, since Gilgamesh bribed Pacal against Genghis, and that war wasn't ended by the Apostolic Palace vote.

I think it was at this point that I started spreading Buddhism for the Apostolic votes and a little hammer bonus.

Our first Golden Age started in 1500AD with the completion of the Taj Mahal in Lisbon.

Military Tradition in 1515AD. Pacal got Liberalism in 1545AD. Around this time, I was moving troops into position to prevent more barb city spawns in the old world:




By the late 1500s, we were able to start implementing the Sirian doctrine a bit. Frigates began softening up the coastal city defenses before the Cuirassiers moved in for the kill.

1605AD: Rifling in. It was surprising how few City Raider III Rifles I made from Macemen. The mounted units were just too useful.

Finally, in 1625AD, we took the last barbarian city in the new world, and the entire New World was ours, and ours alone:



Within just a couple turns, I had taken Justinian's city near the Ivory and his capital. He brought his stack into my territory, where it was decimated by Cavalry. Similarly, we declared on Isabella in 1650AD, routed her invading stack in 1655AD, and proceeded to bombard her three puny cities from the sea.

Isabella was the first AI eliminated: 1670AD. Only Madrid was kept.

The conquest of the AIs was a two-prong operation. Completely taken by surprise, Pacal found his capital burned to the ground by sea-bourne Cavalry in 1680AD:



Despite the fact that it held Notre Dame, The Parthenon, and The Sistine Chapel, I just didn't have the troops to defend it, so it had to burn.

1685AD: Steel. And we get Justinian's last non-capital city as part of a peace treaty. And we are finally able to vote ourselves the Resident of the Apostolic Palace. Our 456 votes are greater than Gilgamesh (200), Pacal (82) and Genghis (30) combined. Although good old Genghis voted for us anyway!

I burned an Artist in the city Justinian gave me for a nice, huge border pop:



I thought I'd eliminated Pacal in 1720AD, but I guess he snuck a city off in the ocean somewhere. I never did find that city...!

Genghis was always happy to help out with war. Another three big techs and he was willing to take on Gilgamesh again. This, of course, left him very vulnerable to our Cavalry, now approaching both on Galleons from the New World and by roads from our old world core.

1765AD: Genghis is eliminated

1775AD: Justinian is eliminated

Also in 1775AD, we finally have to declare on Gilgamesh. His stack, still wounded from the war with Genghis, is decimated by our Cavalry as it moves along neutral-territory roads. A couple cities later, and:



Victory splashscreen on Turn 267.

This was rather more epic than adventure. Great game, Qgqqqqq!


For scoring purposes:

370: Each barbarian city captured: 37 x 10pts
370: Each kept to the end: 37 x 10pts
100: Build Versailles: Yes
300: Build Versailled in the New World: Yes
100: Build Forbidden Palace in the New World: Yes
0: Each World Wonder in the New World: Other than Versailles, no world wonders
50: Build the Colossus: Yes
150: Earn circumnavigation bonus: Yes
500: Win by Domination: Yes

Dates for possible bonus points:
Date of circumnavigation: 50AD (turn 117)
First city in new world: 175BC (turn 108)
Own all cities in new world: 1625AD (turn 235)

"Early finish" multiplier:
500-267 = 233 turns remaining
x 0.2%
= 46.6% bonus

Warning: This may start promising, but reporting drops off severely towards the end. You have been warned.

Okay, perhaps I should put some deep thoughts into this.....
….
Guess not. Let me just have some fun and take what the game throws at me in stride.

Monarch difficulty. I usually have fun playing immortal, but can’t guarantee a win every game on even that difficulty. Have beaten a deity game or two, but too rusty now after playing too much WW, WoT, DLoB and FFH2.

Scoring:
10 points - Each barbarian city captured
10 points - Each barbarian city held until the end of the game
Going for these. Scenario info claims ‘several dozen’ barbarian cities have been settled, so I’ll be at war with the barbarian world for a long while. At least there is no war weariness. Since I can’t expand beyond starting area in the old world, goal will certainly be to hold any cities I take

100 points - Build Versailles
300 points - Build Versailles in the new world
100 points - Build the Forbidden Palace in the new world
50 points - Each World Wonder built in the new world
50 points - Build the Colossus
Forbidden Palace is of course going in the new world. Versailles is a wonder I rarely go for, but I’ll make an exception now. Again new world build makes more sense. It would seem that I should try to gain a powerful production city in the new world, and pump out as many wonders as I can. Colossus is usually not priority for me, but going to try to grab this as well, should be on the way towards optics.

150 points - Earn the circumnavigation movement bonus
400 points - Fastest circumnavigation among competing players (200 for second-fastest)
400 points - Fastest to own a city in the new world (200 for second-fastest). This counts as long as you don't lose the city quickly.
600 points - Fastest to own all cities in the new world (400 for second-fastest). This counts even if another city appears later.
All connected to getting optics as fast as possible. I do not think I really can compete with good players here, but I’ll still try to get the best possible times here. Not because the scoring is important in itself, but because I want to follow the ‘path’ this scenario is encouraging – I’ve gone for Lit and Glib and eventually Edu and Lib beeline too often. So I’ll make every effort to rush to optics, chop/whip my ships. If I want to settle quick I should probably send a settler/killer party out with my first wave. Say 3 westwards, and one to go the other way to quicken navigation bonus. I should have two costal cities, make sure I’m in slavery and have pop, so I can whip 4 in two turns. Then load ‘em with 6 units and set off. But what to load em up with? Settler/worker and 4 longbows? Macemen? Crossbowmen and archers to not tech too much?

500 points - Win by Domination
I hear you, loud and clear.


Capital:
Start looks very good to me. I sent warrior NW and noticed nothing new, except that there was more land westwards, so sheep can certainly go to a later city thataways. So a PH start, food rich and some flood plains thrown in for good measure. So since food should be good I see no reason to cottage away the flood.
Production wise a bit light, 2 hills and cow for production. Enough forests to chop out settlers, and I could always workshop a bit. Early I’ll even cottage plains for those few hammers.

Expansion:
There seems to be good grassland west, and up north I see a beaver which will before long provide some early +happy. If I get wine then I’ll have monarcy enabled, so that should take care of happy cap for as long as I can think forward. Early expansion should probably be SE-wards, as that is where I imagine the AIs will be at. Need claim my lands. I’ll scout with my starting warrior and if possible steal a worker, then settle aggressively enough that I get my fair share of the old world. I’m thinking that maybe AIs are close and could box me in. Per rules I’ll not be allowed to expand through an unlucky neighbour, so I need to make sure I get enough territory to function.

However, this game is about colonization. I’m not gonna underestimate the barbarians over there – taking cities and holding them might not be as easy as I’m used to on a regular map. But being Portuguese Norwegians we have our ways. Gentlemen, we shall ride into battle. And this shall be our horse:

Carrack Longship. Replaces caravel, 2 cargo space and can carry military and peaceful units. So rush to optics and send forth the Santa Maria, Niña and Pinto. Or Ormen Lange, Ormen Skamme and Tranen, to stick with my Norse theme . And I’m certainly hoping that I’ll set sail nearer 1000 AD than 1492 AD. Wonder if it’s best to send a peaceful settling team over, or send 3 boatfuls of longship troopers and save costs of settlers.

Tech path:
Lets see, I’d like agriculture for the cereal, AH for the cows, pottery for cottages and hunting for the beavers, bronze working for chopping. Wheel to connect stuff. At the same time I’d like bronze for axemen or horses for chariots or archery for defense. After this, or perhaps again at the same time, I need some techs for early wonders, so priesthood, metal casting, sailing and masonry are things to consider. Writing for libraries and a GSci for academy in my capital, and a rush to Optics to get my unique unit in the water. Need to think which economy techs will help and which will delay my navy even if they might be better in the long run.

Wonders:
I want Colossus as it gives scenario points, and is something I don’t usually build. So maybe I should get oracle and pop MC with it, then connect bronze and slow-build the wonder. Should be a lock if I get oracle. And I should be able to chop a quick oracle on monarch difficulty, shouldn’t I? Anyway Metal Casting is on the way to optics, and I’ll get forges which may lead to a great engineer – which can bulb machinery for me. Shame I’ll get a prophet instead. I could see a use for Great Wall to keep raging barbarians away from my homeland…but I’ll need a military anyway to discourage AI opportunism. And if possible I’d like a 10xp unit so I can get heroic epic sometime soon after optics. Might need the army to fight the heathens. Too bad GW won’t work off-continent, but that would spoil all the fun in the scenario. Great Lighthouse is a pretty good wonder, I imagine I’ll get quite a few coastal cities in the new world. Still need astronomy to get intercontinental trade routes, but a solid wonder nonetheless. After I get established in the new world I’ll build any wonders I can. Since I’ll be going for divine right for versailles I could consider getting spiral minaret, and then I should get University of Sankore too, and hopefully get the Apostolic palace religion spread to me so I can build some nice religious buildings. Hm. Seems I have my work cut out for me.

Report:

Built a worker then 3 warriors. Teched Agri – BW – AH. I’m gonna place two cities on the peninsula to my west, one north to pick up two beavers, fish and some river grassland. Not real sure about the east, but my first city will be copperville down south. So wheel to hook up copper. Then I’ll need to do the oracle thing. I think I should chop out a worker and a settler from capital, get copper for defence. While settling copperville I tech Poly and priesthood, then perhaps I can settle a city near the pigs and just spam-chop the oracle there. Great for popping borders too…

Turn 36 meet first AI, Justinian. That’s late. A few turns later spot his borders.
And I’m playing waaaay too fast. Wellwell. Got wheel, then decided that pottery was gonna help me get more techs…so still haven’t started research on myst yet. New settler soon ready, but I should have gotten another worker first. Won two fights agains barbarian warriors, forrest and forested hill, but reassuring. Would have been awkward if any of those had lost.

Turn 46: Judaism dropped. And I put my third settler on halt, needed a worker first. And I think I need a warrior for my new city site.
I notice that one barb hut has a warrior guard on it. It’s in forest so I need an axe or two warriors.
Turn 47: Pottery in. Mysticism set. Gunning for oracle, but suspect I might be too late now.
Turn 54: Pre-chopping around Trondheim, poly in 4 turns, building granaries in my growing cities and workers/settlers in capital.
Turn 60 something meet Isabella with my first axe, headed towards the barb hut.
Tech is set to hunting for happy then writing for libs.

Surprise:

Turn 70 I land oracle and take MC 1200 BC, real slow. And I spent a lot of forests, to put it mildly. Now gonna slow-build colossus, tech masonry and sailing
Probably time to expand massively now, with pottery I can make a profit out of just about any site.

Overview:

Iberian Imperialism:

Scoring: Your task is to settle the new world, and conquer the barbarian civilization there. Note: A wonder does not count for score if rushed with a Great Engineer or cash.

10 points - Each barbarian city captured
10 points - Each barbarian city held until the end of the game
100 points - Build Versailles
300 points - Build Versailles in the new world
100 points - Build the Forbidden Palace in the new world
50 points - Each World Wonder built in the new world
50 points - Build the Colossus
150 points - Earn the circumnavigation movement bonus
400 points - Fastest circumnavigation among competing players (200 for second-fastest)
400 points - Fastest to own a city in the new world (200 for second-fastest). This counts as long as you don't lose the city quickly.
600 points - Fastest to own all cities in the new world (400 for second-fastest). This counts even if another city appears later.
500 points - Win by Domination
50 points - Any other victory
0.2% - Bonus for each turn remaining at the point of your victory. Example: If you win on turn 300, there are 200 turns remaining, so add a 40% bonus to your total score.

Summary:

36 Barb cities captured 360
36 Barb cities held 360
Build Versailles: Yes 100
Versailles New Continent: Yes 300
FP in New World: Yes 100
Wonders in New world: 9 450
(Three Georges, Pentagon, UN, Hollywood, Cristo, Rock N Roll, Kremlin, Eiffel Tower, Broadway)
Colossus: Yes 50
Circumnavigation Bonus: Yes 150
Fastest Circumnavigation: 325AD ?
1st city in New World: 700AD ?
All Barb cities: 1585AD ?
Win by Domination: Yes 500
Win at turn 276, 224 left: 44,8% Bonus

So, I've felt like rebalancing heroes for a while. Four goals: heroes at a similar fame level should be competitive with one another. Heroes shouldn't feel quite so hapless at level 1, or quite so overwhelming when big. Kiting with caster heroes with massive numbers of shots should die in a fire (currently, I've simply removed ranged magic attacks, and given all caster heroes esoteric bonuses). I've also removed random hero skills, they get constant abilities. We'll start by looking at the fame 0 heroes, and how they changed. Almost every one has been buffed.

• Brax the Dwarf: Melee 6, Armor 4, Resist 10, Hits 9, Armsmasater, Constitution, Noble, Mountaineer, Wall Crusher.
  +2 to melee, two extra skills, and wall crusher. Despite that, he's still not much of a fighter, but Armsmaster is one of those abilities that makes a hero useful all by itself.
  • Level 1 damage: 6(+0) = 1.8
    
  • Level 3 damage: 8(+1) = 3.2
    
  • Level 6 damage: 11(+2) = 5.5
    
  • Level 9 damage: 14(+3) = 8.4 (level 9 is unlikely, but equivalent stats with magic items are probable)
    
• Gunther the Barbarian: Melee 7, Armor 3, Resist 7, Hits 9, Constitution, Thrown 4.
  +1 to melee and thrown, and replaced Might with Constitution. Overall offense drops at level 3+, but he's less likely to get instagibbed, so probably net neutral.
  • Level 1 damage: 7+4(+0) = 2.1, 3.3 attacking.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9+6(+1) = 3.6, 6.0 attacking.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 12+9(+2) = 6.0, 10.5 attacking.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 15+12(+3) = 9.0, 16.2 attacking.
    
• Zaldron the Sage: Melee 3, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 6, Sage, Caster 10mp, Scouting III, Illusion Immunity.
  He's pretty useless in a fight (though the bump to magic points is nice), but he's an expert on information.
  • Level 1 damage: 3(+0) = 0.9
    
  • Level 3 damage: 5(+1) = 1.0
    
  • Level 6 damage: 8(+2) = 4.0
    
  • Level 9 damage: 11(+3) = 6.6
    
• B'Shan the Dervish: Melee 5, Ranged 5, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 6, Constitution, Noble.
  +1 to melee and ranged, and Constitution. Not a big change, but still a net gain. Race now Nomad.
  • Level 1 damage: 5(+0) = 1.5
    
  • Level 3 damage: 7(+1) = 2.8
    
  • Level 6 damage: 10(+2) = 5.0
    
  • Level 9 damage: 13(+3) = 7.8
    
• Rakir the Beastmaster: Melee 8, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 7, Blademaster, Constitution, Caster 5, Scouting III, Forester.
  Rakir always kinda sucked, and this is a fairly large buff. Attacking he does slightly less than Gunther, and he lacks the first strike and attack air granted by thrown weapons, but caster and incidental bonuses probably make up for it.
  • Level 1 damage: 8(+0) = 2.4
    
  • Level 3 damage: 10(+2) = 5.0
    
  • Level 6 damage: 13(+5) = 10.4
    
  • Level 9 damage: 16(+7) = 16.0
    
• Valana the Bard: Melee 3, Armor 3, Resist 6, Hits 6, Leadership, Legendary, Caster 5, Inspiring (I renamed Holy Bonus)
  The trouble with leadership is that it's totally useless until level 3. Inspiring, which grants +1 melee, armor, and resistance, means she's a meaningful leader at level. Effective melee is 4 at level 1, since inspiring works on self.
  • Level 1 damage: 4(+0) = 1.2
    
  • Level 3 damage: 6(+1) = 1.2
    
  • Level 6 damage: 9(+2) = 4.5
    
  • Level 9 damage: 12(+3) = 7.2
    
• Bahgtru the Orc: Melee 6, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 8, Leadership, Mountaineer, Thrown 3.
  All he gained is Leadership, but that's not terrible. Leadership counted in his damage stats.
  • Level 1 damage: 6+3(+0) = 1.8, 2.7 attacking.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9+5(+1) = 3.6, 5.6 attacking.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 13+8(+2) = 6.5, 10.5 attacking.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 17+11(+3) = 10.2, 16.8 attacking.
    
• Serena the Healer: Melee 7, Armor 5, Resist 7, Hits 7, Prayermaster, Caster 7.5 mp, Healer.
  Serena was always iffy as a ranged damage caster anyway, since she can't use staves. Now she's an adequate if unremarkable melee character, with a nice support power, and one of the few ways to get healing if you aren't playing White.
  • Level 1 damage: 7(+0) = 2.1.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9(+1) = 3.6.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 12(+2) = 6.0.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 15(+3) = 9.0.
    
• Shuri the Huntress: Melee 4, Range 4, Armor 3, Resist 7, Hits 6, +1 to hit, Agility, Forester, Long Range.
  She does more damage at level 1; higher level it's actually a nerf. Shuri is good to awesome in vanilla, depending on her random (Luck FTW). Race now High Elf.
  • Level 1 damage: 4(+1) = 1.6.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 6(+2) = 3.0.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 9(+3) = 5.4.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 12(+4) = 8.4.
    
• Theria the Thief: Melee 6, Armor 3, Resist 7, Hits 6, Agility, Lucky, Invisibility
  Race changed to Halfling. Not a hard hitter, but abusable much the way Shin Bo traditionally was, and hard to kill. Overall easily better than she used to be.
  • Level 1 damage: 6(+1) = 2.4.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 8(+2) = 4.0.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 11(+3) = 6.6.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 14(+4) = 9.8.
    

• Greyfairer the Druid: Melee 4, Ranged 5 (Rocks x4), Armor 5, Resist 7, Hits 6, caster 10 mp, Scouting III, Pathfinding, Purify.
  I'm not too thrilled by my choice of bonus for him, and it's got a bug where shots don't show up. A different thematic bonus would be nice. I don't believe rocks get buffed by any weapon he can use.
  • Level 1 damage: 5(+0) = 1.5
    
  • Level 3 damage: 7(+1) = 2.8
    
  • Level 6 damage: 10(+2) = 5.0
    
  • Level 9 damage: 13(+3) = 7.8
    
• Janus the Twins: Melee 6, Armor 5, Resist 6, Hits 6. Two counters, unlike all other heroes.
  Being able to double up on bonuses is pretty awesome, so Janus has no skills. Replaces Taki.
  • Level 1 damage: 6(+0) = 1.8, twice.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 8(+1) = 3.2, twice.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 11(+2) = 5.5, twice.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 14(+3) = 8.4, twice.
    
• Malleus the Magician: Melee 3, Armor 4, Resist 8, Hits 6, Caster 10, Fire Immunity, Fire Breath 6, Immolation.
  Removing ranged magical attacks sort of did in his reason for existing, so I gave a bunch of weird attacking powers. Since he can't buff his attacks with weapons, and they go against armor twice, he's nothing like the offense of major melee heroes, but he's not useless.
  • Level 1 damage: 3+6(+0) = 0.9 + 1.8.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 5+8(+1) = 1.0 + 1.6.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 8+11(+2) = 4.0 + 5.5.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 11+14(+3) = 6.6 + 8.4.
    
• Aureus the Golden One: Melee 7, Armor 6, Resist 6, Hits 6, Legendary, Constitution, Charmed, Caster 5
  Moved down from 10 fame. Quite tanky, offensively questionable.
  • Level 1 damage: 7(+0) = 2.1.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9(+1) = 3.6.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 12(+2) = 6.0.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 15(+3) = 9.0.
    
• Grawl the Packlord: Melee 7, Armor 5, Resist 6, Hits 8, Move 3, Leadership, Blademaster, Agility, Cause Fear.
  He looks like a wolfrider. Actually replaces Spyder the Rogue, but appears at Fame 5.
  • Level 1 damage: 7(+0) = 2.1
    
  • Level 3 damage: 10(+2) = 5.0
    
  • Level 6 damage: 14(+5) = 11.2
    
  • Level 9 damage: 18(+7) = 18.0
    

• Jaer the Wind Mage: Melee 3, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 6, Caster 10, Missile Immunity, Lightning, Flight.
  He's got flight instead of wind walk; Wind Walk was absurdly useful.
  • Level 1 damage: 3+6(+0) = 0.9 + 1.8.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 5+8(+1) = 1.0 + 1.6.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 8+11(+2) = 4.0 + 5.5.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 11+14(+3) = 6.6 + 8.4.
    
• Chiron the Centaur: Melee 5, Ranged 5, Armor 4, Resist 7, Hits 8, Constitution, Caster, Scouting II, Healer
  Replaces Marcus the Ranger. I always felt betrayed by Might on an archer. Race is Beastman, of course.
  • Level 1 damage: 5(+0) = 1.5
    
  • Level 3 damage: 7(+1) = 2.8
    
  • Level 6 damage: 10(+2) = 5.0
    
  • Level 9 damage: 13(+3) = 7.8
    
• Fang the Draconian: Melee 6, Armor 3, Resist 7, Hits 10, Might, Agility, Fire Breath 5, Flight.
  This is a fairly significant reduction; Fang is another hero who tends to be super.
  • Level 1 damage: 7+5(+0) = 2.1 + 1.5.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 11+7(+1) = 4.4 + 2.8.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 17+10(+2) = 8.5 + 5.0.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 23+13(+3) = 13.8 + 7.8.
    
• Morgana the Witch: Melee 3, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 6, Charmed, Caster 10, Missile Immunity, Stoning Gaze -1.
  Stoning gaze is a somewhat odd choice, but transformations seem witchy.
  • Level 1 damage: 3(+0) = 0.9
    
  • Level 3 damage: 5(+1) = 1.0
    
  • Level 6 damage: 8(+2) = 4.0
    
  • Level 9 damage: 11(+3) = 6.6
    

• Ixitixl the Hive Queen: Melee 8, Armor 7, Resist 7, Hits 9, Armsmaster, Constitution, Might, Web Spell.
  This is the klackon; I decided on web over flame breath, just because it seemed more interesting. Uses a modified stag beetle. Actually replaces Reywind, though at a different fame level.
  • Level 1 damage: 9(+0) = 2.7
    
  • Level 3 damage: 13(+1) = 6.5
    
  • Level 6 damage: 19(+2) = 9.5
    
  • Level 9 damage: 25(+3) = 15.0
    
• Saurak the Turtle: Melee 8, Armor 9, Resist 8, Hits 9, Constitution, Might, Fire Breath 5, Swims.
  This is the lizardman; icon is a modified dragon turtle. A hard hitting, tanky hero, though fire breath does not scale as well as thrown due to different armor interactions and not getting weapon bonuses. Actually replaces Tumu, though at a different fame level.
  • Level 1 damage: 9+5(+0) = 2.7 + 1.5.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 13+7(+1) = 5.2 + 2.8.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 19+10(+2) = 9.5 + 5.0.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 25+13(+3) = 15.0 + 7.8.
    
• Shalla the Amazon: Melee 7, Armor 4, Resist 6, Hits 10, Agility, Charmed, Thrown 4, +1 to hit.
  Shalla is another significant nerf, though she's typically better at level 1 due to the static +1 to hit.
  • Level 1 damage: 7+4(+1) = 2.8, 4.4 attacking.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9+6(+2) = 4.5, 7.5 attacking.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 12+9(+3) = 7.2, 12.6 attacking.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 15+12(+4) = 10.5, 18.9 attacking.
    

• Svadar the Nightblade: Melee 7, Armor 6, Resist 9, Hits 7, Blademaster, Agility, Invisibility, Armor Piercing, First Strike, Poison 2.
  This is Shin Bo, just changed to fit the theme of MoM (which has no oriental units or theme, and does have nightblades). Doesn't hit that hard, but AP is worth around 0.6 damage against early game chaff, 1.2 against late game foes, and while poison is irrelevant against anything late game, it has some value against chaff.
  • Level 1 damage: 7(+0) = 2.1
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9(+2) = 4.5
    
  • Level 6 damage: 12(+5) = 9.6
    
  • Level 9 damage: 15(+7) = 15.0
    
• Yramrag the Warlock: Melee 7, Armor 4, Resist 8, Hits 10, Caster 10, Cause Fear, Fire Breath 6, Flying.
  Yramrag is now a Nightmare rider, and a dark elf. He's also reclassified as a fighter-mage.
  • Level 1 damage: 7+6(+0) = 2.1 + 1.8.
    
  • Level 3 damage: 9+8(+1) = 3.6 + 3.2.
    
  • Level 6 damage: 12+11(+2) = 6.0 + 5.5.
    
  • Level 9 damage: 15+14(+3) = 7.5 + 7.0.
    
• Mystic X the Unknown: Melee 8, Armor 8, Resist 10, Hits 9, Constitution, Caster 5, Non-Corporeal, Weapon Immunity, Illusion, Plane Shift.
  He's now a wraith (weapon immunity is amazingly irrelevant on him; it's just appropriate to wraithform). Illusory attacks are worth around 1 damage early game, 2-3 late game.
  • Level 1 damage: 8(+0) = 2.4
    
  • Level 3 damage: 10(+1) = 4.0
    
  • Level 6 damage: 13(+2) = 6.5
    
  • Level 9 damage: 16(+3) = 9.6
    

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)