[Spoilers] Beyond the Sword and Back - Ilios relearns some old tricks

[Commodore]

I like the little nubbin to the southeast.

[Ilios]

So, no update for ten whole turns huh...

Sorry about that, pace has been (relatively) glacial with the Gazglum - Hashoosh handover, and the timeslot issues linked to their timezone discrepancy.

Anyway...

In the last ten turns, I grabbed Civil Service, then fired my golden age using the Music Great Artist, and switched to Bureaucracy and Caste System, then got Philosophy, landing Taoism, saved some gold, then built up research by one turning Monotheism, Monarchy, Feudalism and Machinery. Last turn of the golden age, I switched to Hereditary Rule, Feudalism and Organised Religion.

...


I have just now realized I forgot to convert to Taoism in my last turn of the golden age...

[darrelljs]

Builder.

Darrell

[darrelljs]

At war yet?

Darrell

[Ilios]

At war yet?

Darrell

No, pace has been slow lately. I'm sitting on a practically finished report, but I'm too tired to finish and post. The joys of small children...

[Ilios]

Ok, I really need that state of the empire post. I planned it for T100, this got delayed to T102, but I never got to posting it. So, here it is, the state of the empire, a couple of turns late (since we're at T105 now).


The Story So Far

God, I love the early game of Civilization IV. I absolutely adore it. In my opinion, those first 50-100 turns are really what makes this game shine, as we approach its tenth anniversary.

Cyrus (IMP/CHA) of Inca really got me roaring in the early game. Combine with the fact that my opponents, while some of them are veterans of several BtS multiplayer games, apparently aren't as good as I am at squeezing the best result out of the surrounding terrain. Add a western neighbor who didn't have Copper connected on T45. Add eastern neighbors who have basically knocked each other out during a brief but bloody bronze age war. Add a southwestern neighbor who grows his cities onto unimproved tiles, and 2 or 3-pop whips his cities in this Slavery nerfed RB mod game (best addition to the RB mod if you ask me). The nerf makes you appreciate those hammer tiles, allowing me to fund expansion with Wealth builds.

I joined a green-middling game because I thought I would have a harder time adapting back to BtS. I've been playing FFH for so long, and only played one competitive multiplayer BtS game, back when Pitboss 2 was still running.

The game isn't won yet though, and I have reached the stage of the game where I lack a lot of experience. I almost never finish my SP games, usually quitting by around T100 (because I get bored), so I'm just going to have to trust my intuition and try what I've seen other, better players do.

We have reached a military build up stage, which I have been able to combine with infrastructure builds thanks to an early Heroic Epic city. Basic infrastructure (Terrace/Forge/Courthouse/Barracks/Library/Market) is finished in most cities, and I can finally devote a big chunk of my production base to unit building. We have left Slavery behind for the new and improved Serfdom (+75% Worker speed, +1h Watermill, Windmill), which seems a little overpowered. While not food poor, this map isn't exactly PHI heaven, with one, sometimes two good food resources per city. I have a huge happy cap, so converting a 1/3/0 grass hill mine into 2/2/1 windmills is the way to go. Same foodhammer ratio, with some bonus commerce to boot.

Domestic Economy

1. City overview, civics and costs
   
   
   
   Growing vertically, growing army.
   
   
   
   Serfdom baby!
   
   
   
   Thank god for Wealth builds.
   
   
2. Cities
   
   Spoilered for those who are bored by city by city overviews.
   
   
   Auster
   
   
   Biggest city in the world. Notice the great Spy I got at low odds. Will continue grabbing tiles from surrounding cities. Spreading different faiths, could get up to +50% research with monasteries.
   
   Roth
   
   
   Stunted to allow Auster to grow. Yes, it built Chichen Itza, which will turn my cities into fortresses before Rifling. Will come in handy to cover flanks when my armies go on the offensive.
   
   Chabon
   
   
   Adding wind- and watermills for the win.
   
   Tartt
   
   
   My very own tank city, producing mounted units at a healthy clip. Statue of Zeus, Barracks, Stable, CHA and Heroic Epic means triple a promoted unit leaves the production every turn. Yes, I had to put some overflow into something during the golden age, or losing the hammers, so I chose Swed, if I decide to switch to Theocracy.
   
   Franzen
   
   
   Has stolen the Sheep from Tartt, which is already at the maximum size I want it to be. Fantastic commerce city.
   
   Miéville
   
   
   Eastern version of Roth. Growing cottages for Auster. Will probably max out at size 14. Good hammer output.
   
   Martin
   
   
   Former barb city. Great coastal commerce city with some hammer potential thanks to watermills.
   
   King
   
   
   Still not sure if I should put National Epic here or in Auster. I'm waiting till I can get some Marble from someone.
   
   Stephenson
   
   
   At 24 base hammers once that jungled hill gets windmilled. I might pave over the cottages with workshops. Prime Iron Works candidate.
   
   Simmons
   
   
   I changed my mind and changed the build to Maoi. With only 7 coastal tiles it's pretty lame, but I can't wait till I get a better coastal spot.
   
   Gaiman
   
   
   City in the north with good hammer potential.
   
   Boyle
   
   
   Would have been better 1W, but that would have been too close to Whosit. Won't ever amount to much but seals the border with Whosit nicely.
   
   
   
   
3. Graphs and Demographics
   
   Demos
   
   
   I'm managing to keep ahead in food and hammers by growing vertically, I've run out of room to expand efficiently/peacefully.
   
   GNP
   
   
   
   MFG
   
   
   
   Crop
   
   
   
   Power
   
   
   
   

Military

F5


I think Tartt has produced all of my mounted units so far.

Stats


I think I'm still ahead in infra. Would have been nice to have remember converting to Taoism now that I'm running Org Rel...

Foreign Relations

Civics



Cash



Top 5 cities

1. Whosit
   
   9 Cities
   
   Down:
   Meditation, Priesthood, Monarchy, Feudalism, Guilds, Aesthetics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Paper, Horseback Riding, Machinery, Engineering
   
   He's in a 9-turn golden age right now, but his demos don't show it. I don't really know why he's so far behind, but I'm guessing the Piramids has something to do with it.
   
   
   
   I actually got an updated picture of his lands after trading maps with Hashoosh recenly.
   
   
2. Dhalphir
   
   15 Cities
   
   Down:
   Polytheism, Monotheism, Aesthetics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Paper
   
   He's actually doing pretty well, flashing his fancy Pikes, and most cities in the game.
   
   
   
   
   Imagine if he didn't do stuff like this:
   
   
   Grow onto a Worker then buddy!
   
   
3. Yuris
   
   9 cities
   
   Down:
   Feudalism, Guilds, Aesthetics, Literature, Music, Philosophy
   
   He's been leapfrogged by Dhalphir, seams to be stagnating.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Gazglum/Hashoosh
   
   12 cities
   
   Down:
   Aesthetics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Alphabet, Horseback Riding, Engineering, Guilds
   
   
   
   
   

[darrelljs]

Nice update . Care to explain the unit mix? 2 Maces, 2 Catapults, and 2 Knights...is that representative. If so, what's your attack plan?

Darrell

[NobleHelium]

Ilios is copying the Starcraft Terran strategy of one of every unit, except he's upping the ante to two.

[Ilios]

Nice update . Care to explain the unit mix? 2 Maces, 2 Catapults, and 2 Knights...is that representative. If so, what's your attack plan?

Darrell

I'm not sure where you saw these units, but I will reveal my cunning plan when the time is right.

Ilios is copying the Starcraft Terran strategy of one of every unit, except he's upping the ante to two.

Or, it could be that Ilios has no idea what he's doing, since this is the first multi-player BtS game where he goes on the offensive.

[darrelljs]

They are shown in the city screen.

Darrell