[PB79] MirOh No, what am I doing?

[klops]

regarding the first UN picture, that's the general game information before the actual vote, right? (because you get the real result in a popup)
The vote split is just some guessing based on diplomatic relations. It might work for AI but humans tend to not care about "oh cool, you have chosen civics wisely"

[Miro]

regarding the first UN picture, that's the general game information before the actual vote, right? (because you get the real result in a popup)
The vote split is just some guessing based on diplomatic relations. It might work for AI but humans tend to not care about "oh cool, you have chosen civics wisely"

Yes! I didn't know if the game was showing me what other players voted for (I was 4th to play, so they already voted) or if it was just the generic AI info. I haven't seen that screen in a decade.

And my civic choices are very wise! I'm sure everybody's swooning over them 

[Miro]

T293 Update:

T288:

I learned that Destroyers can spot Submarines. Now I see why Gira and xist have been using single Destroyers to plug gaps between islands.
Xist's subs are raiding and then hiding under the ice  I never considered subs, but this harass makes sense.
Xist's navy moved to Motya, his southern coast city, in range of MvM. I bolstered MvM's defenses and retreated my navy to just outside of his Battleships' range.

Xist whipped 8 pop at once this turn, but 2 - 3 pop were whipped in Malaca, so I'm not acting as if it were a nuke. The cities that I expect are building nukes all have unchanged population.
My interpretation: He selected multiple cities and whipped them at once to make me fear a nuke and evacuate Mediolanum (my northern shore city in range of Tanks) early. I won't do it! They ain't nukes and I ain't scared!
(xist started nuke production T285)

T289:

Xist completed Hollywood, I completed Fission.
I'm producing 2 Tac Nukes (5T, 7T away), 1 ICBM (17T), 6 Tanks, 4 Marines, 6 Fighters, 2 Bombers, 1 Carrier, 1 Attack Submarine, 1 Battleship.
Xist's Destroyers + Carriers went up near Siga, but left his Battleships in Motya. I almost left my entire navy in range of Motya.



T290:

Xist sent a message about 2 cities for peace. I don't understand it. Either he forgot we have the 1-city-per-trade rule or he's telling me he's going to kill these cities, then have peace.


I put Fighters on intercept and Xist won 11 vs 2 in the dogfights (all 1v1s, no battling survivors). I have 1 Fighter with Combat III, the rest have Combat II, so he must have all Combat III or great luck.

I ended turn too early again  I hate that [Enter] ends turns and is also used when marking tiles. For the record: I finished my unit movements and probably wouldn't have changed much more this turn aside from whipping/drafting, I do that last each turn.

I debate retreating from Mediolanum every turn, but I think I'm safe for now. xist has had only 5T of nuke production and my calculations for his best military cities show that he can build a Tac nuke in 6T in Leptis, 9T in Carthage (26xp), 8T in Thapsus.

I married my northern navy with my southern navy; xist's navy could handle either of them individually, but not combined and my north feels safe for now. His entire navy moved back to Motya.



T291:

Xist razed MvM!

Xist sent 4 peace offers:


I don't negotiate with terrorists.

That about covers it for this turn.
China's looking good on its way to Military Tradition, Sushi is spreading nicely, Destroyers are hunting a few subs in the north and south seas.
Lots of bombing runs on xist's islands and railroads; his SAMs aren't spread outside of cities and all of his Fighters were used to attack MvM these past couple of turns.

Not much else to talk about

Not much else to say

Good day overall

Got a G.G.

Solid.



Hey, they died a heroes' death! They destroyed so much of xist in the process. Not like, in military or production terms, but emotional damage, I'm sure.
2 Tactical Nukes wiped my navy and 1 Tactical Nuke hit MvM.
I didn't think he could have nukes out there that early and figured he'd aim for Mediolanum, not the south.

In retrospect, this brings back the chess lessons I'll teach beginners: When your opponent makes a move, ask yourself, "Why did they move that piece there?"
When xist moved his Destroyers + Carriers north, I thought he might be trying to fool me that his Battleships moved, too, so that I'd leave my navy in range of his Battleships. Now I see that it was to escort loaded Attack Submarines. That makes more sense.

Before:


After:




T292:

Xist razed Telestrations. I see an ICBM in Leptis (xist's Heroic Epic city). He didn't even whip it... My nuke production calculations must be way off.



T293:

I voted for Gira in U.N. He seems favorable over the nation I've been at war with for a month and a half.
Pan Fall o Rome was razed by hill-marching Marines again. I finished Military Tradition and am a few turns away from having my own 26xp units.
This turn the chart shows the huge dip in power.







My updates from this point won't be as thorough, I'm tapping out! It's been a fun game and I've learned a lot, but I expect to continue losing ground and have little chance for a counter attack. I'll try and launch some fun nukes and won't ever surrender. I'll post screenshots of Gira/coldrain's attacks if they happen this year 

[Mjmd]

Ya I guess AI doesn't use submarines much, but yes destroyers counter well. Honestly I forgot about the ice.

As noted don't put fighters on intercept almost ever. Especially with carriers out static fighters on intercept can be taken down pretty easily (although still that is some good luck).

Ya you can wait a few turns, doesn't mean 5. 5 as you can see from your own tactical nuke timings can be done manually (although some of that whipped pop in 2 or 3s easily could have gone to speed along) and I suspect some overflow chains as well (max whip overflow into ect or just multiple whipped units in queue). Its a painful lesson to spread out a fleet once nukes might fly.

In general the fact you were so far behind in tech really hurt here. With how confined the spacing was it was pretty certain whomever got off the first nukes would have a sizable advantage and you've been down in econ for a while.

Upside: Maybe now one of the others WILL GET OFF THEIR BUTTS. Request around. Maybe they will glance at graphs!

[greenline]

Nerf nukes!

[Mjmd]

I'll note I did suggest nerfing nukes in the mod thread before Miro updated.

Again, the rather tight naval spacing does make it harder to defend even if you spread out more as there just isn't much space. (not a map critique as I like most of it, but just a tactical assessment).

[williams482]

Just dropping by to say that this has been an excellent thread. Well done Miro, and good luck.

[Miro]

Just dropping by to say that this has been an excellent thread. Well done Miro, and good luck.

Thanks, dude! That means a lot to hear, glad you liked it.

[Miro]

These games are so long that they become more than just games — they're stories, campaigns. It was a pleasure. The new mod, the new leader, the well-thought-out map, and the jeeeez these wars! I never stopped learning and can be proud of many attacks I directed.

China grew and became strong enough that its rivals had to gang up against it. It claimed the top 3 religious wonders, mastered teleportation, and reached production heights through corporations I've never seen before.

It fought back the world leader across 3 wars, over several months, with unyielding tenacity. But in the end, it wasn't a stack of doom or higher tech that led to China's downfall — it was the borders. Carthage secured all attacking chances with its position fortified by a better canal system, better prepared border control, and Kremlin-boosted production. The nukes on China's navy sped up the inevitable, but Carthage's superior air force, positional control, and endless bombing runs set up positive trades for a steady conquest. Meanwhile, North America and the Netherlands closed their borders after witnessing China attack through their territory, effectively trapping China.

Even the strongest walls can become cages. It was only a matter of time.

T316 Update:

T294: Gira won UN Election (all 4 voted for Gira). Charts now show the huge power dip. I started West Point for my own +26xp units in Small World. Xist razed Mediolanum.

T295: Gira finished 3 Gorges Dam.

T296: Coldrain has an ICBM.

T297: Xist captured Battleball. I recaptured, but can't raze my own cities  

T298: Xist launched 4 Tac Nukes. Major invasions: South sea is flooding with Battleships creeping in, west border filled with Tanks, north sea filled with navy.
2 nukes on Neapolis, 2 on Ravenna (both with Bomb Shelters).
I had enough army nearby to fight back the land invasion.



T299: xist launched 2 ICBMs around Bloodier Clock. It wiped most Carriers, 8 - 10 Destroyers, 1 (empty) Attack Sub, many ground units. I voted "No" to the "No Nukes" UN Vote. Y'all put me through it, I want you guys to deal with nukes, too!

T300: UN vote passed. I get 0 ICBMs even though I whipped to finish one last turn! Xist captured Wingspan. I lost the 10 - 20 ships I had in the south due to turn timer, not a huge issue, though. 12 Hill-moving Marines 
marching on Ravenna. Coldrain finished Apollo program project.



T302: Xist razed Boss Monster. Xist tried to take Dominion, but a single Knight survived! I founded BosserMonsterer where Boss Monster was. Hopefully it will be more boss and more monster than before.

China Map:


T303: Coldrain offers open borders, I accept. Xist hits BosserMonsterer, 1 SAM survives. Xist's navies set up blockades in the north and south seas. Islands are starving and pissed.

T304: Xist captured Battleball and razed Carcassone. Coldrain and Gira are still putting EP into me  I'm a dead horse, even xist stopped ages ago.

T305: Xist captured Betrayal HotH (last northern island city) and launched another land invasion on our western border. I have 0 Workers left. Damn. I learned that nuclear fallout can go away naturally - never knew! Xist finally completed Ironworks.



T306: Gira issued U.N. Diplomatic Victory vote. I abstained. You gotta do some triangle diplomacy or something for that victory. If you cancel borders with me when I'm already fighting an uphill battle, then you can't count on my vote even if I dislike the other guy more. Xist nuked my 2 loaded Tactical Nukes and it killed them - I'll never get to nuke this game  I also didn't realize 1 nuke could kill 2 nukes like that, or maybe I miscounted. Xist razed Gloomhaven (capital) and Neapolis.



T307: Lots of starvation + unhappiness. I cleared xist's Hill Marine force and founded a new, non-coastal city near Gloomhaven's ruins: Hnefatafl (a.k.a. "Viking Chess" or "Tafl"). Fun assymetric game where white's king is trying to escape and black tries to surround it.




T308: Xist captured GoT, my central southern island. He's been hitting coastal cities and brought 8 Tanks through NA.

T309: Xist captured BosserMonsterer and Dominion, my last northern coastal cities. Re recaptured them. He nearly took Bloodier Clock, too. Coldrain is leaving the 8 Tanks in NA rather than closing borders. He didn't want me hitting Xist but has no desire to slow down Xist's conquest. I set up my Commando Tanks (upgrades hidden) to hit Carthage, I may be able to raze 2 cities.

T310: Xist captured Age o Mythology, BosserMonsterer, Patchwork, Dominion, my entire north coast. I recaptured them. I know he's getting better trades, but this should slow down his conversion on them. (He leaves 1 - 4 units in each)

T311: Gira issues UN Vote to stop the war. I want to say "No", but that's disruptive when Gira + Coldrain need to be working against Xist and want as much on their side as they can get, so I vote "Yes". But my math shows this vote still might not work... Xist razed Hnefetafl and captured BosserMonsterer, Dominion, Twilyt Struggle, Age o Mythology. I recaptured each of them.

T312: No vote result yet? Coldrain completes SS Docking Bay. Xist captured many more cities. 4? More? I can't recapture, railroads disconnected. Xist cleared my Commando Tank force. I was 1 railroad short of getting to have fun  I rebuilt a few Workers and some mismicro (didn't notice some inner railroads bombed) left me 1 Worker action short of blitzing through and razing 2 cities.



T313: UN Vote failed. Xist didn't even need to defy, his population is too high! Xist razed another city. Gira and Xist closed borders. Xist offered peace for Small World. No.



T314: Xist captured Small World, Dominion, Hues and Cues. Coldrain DoW'd me. I'm down to 8 cities, collapsing fast. I still kill whatever units I'm able to, especially when a Commando Tank is in range.



T315: Xist rushed the 3 cities NA was targeting. NA left them alone rather than DoW xist for them. I recaptured 2 of them. With the 25 - 30 units I have left, I set up my last stand in my favorite city - can you guess which one? 

T316: Xist took another 3 cities, NA took 3 cities, I'm down to just my favorite city.

[Miro]

I'll note a very common trap for civ4 multiplayer is to get really drawn into the game and honestly it is surprising how emotional it can be especially when you are new.

China’s Final Chapter: Mansions of Mad

As the game comes to an end for China and what army I have left holds out for as long as it can, there's no city I'd rather it end with. Mansions of Mad is my favorite city.



It's not my favorite board game, it's not an active city, and its location is nothing special. But it wasn't built for any of those, it wasn't even named for the board game. It was named for the acronym — MoM, about a month after my mom's stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. A quiet way to keep her close, and to bring her into the story.

The difficult months that I spent visiting her in the hospital and taking care of her in her home were filled with distractions to make it easier to handle, no different after we lost her.
PB79 was a welcome distraction. (Even though it went on for twice as long as I expected!)

I planned the China-Rome conquest while we hung up artwork in her room and she beamed as the nurses commented on how close our family is. I watched Carthage battle North America while we watched Schitt's Creek reruns together. I raced for Liberalism while racing to Panera to grab her favorite tea. Even writing these updates helped. I love telling stories, and having one to tell helped keep my mind off everything else.

I know I could've asked for a break when things reached their lowest, but it was clear that war was on the horizon and I didn't want anyone holding back. That would ruin the story.

MoM's story was more eventful than I expected. It was always in the back of my mind, even if I avoided looking at it (partly why I was late to replace Crab boats). When Coldrain sieged Ticket to Ride and Mysterium, I was deathly afraid that his navy would push just a little farther, within range of MoM. When Xist’s first Commando Tanks brooded in southern NA, MoM was the first to receive reinforced defenses. It had one of my first airports, became Oxford's replacement after BoC fell, and even held out against a few naval assaults recently.

But the craziest part — out of all ~25 cities I had at the time, MoM became the Christianity holy city. I’m not very religious, but my mom was deeply Christian. I couldn't help but smile when I saw that.  

So as China's last stand takes place, it feels right that it happens here.

Thank you all for reading and for the advice you've given me over the past 8 months. Especially Mjmd!