Epic Forty-Five - Reports and Discussion - The X Factor

[Sirian]

Today is closing day for Epic Forty-Five. You have until the end of Tuesday to post at least a game summary. Since this was such a big event and likely to have been grueling at best, we'll understand if full reports aren't posted immediately. Feel free to take through the weekend, if you need the time. We would rather hear all the details than have you rush through them.

- Sirian

[LKendter]

It will be interested to see if anyone pulls a win out on this one. I played it a little but got to quickly depressed with the horrid starting terrain of mostly jungle. AWE is rough enough, but that much jungle killed the initial expansion.

Maybe I missed it, but I couldn't spot any nearby iron for Persia. Persia without their UU is just painful.

I lost interest because I didn't feel I had even a 1% chance to win.

[Sirian]

I couldn't spot any nearby iron for Persia. Persia without their UU is just painful.

There was no iron, for anybody.

That was the X Factor.


- Sirian

[Sirp_]

Well, here's my report in this brutally difficult game:

http://www.whitevine.net/civ-report/

-Sirp.

[Urugharakh]

There was no iron, for anybody.

That was the X Factor.


- Sirian

Actually this was my reason to quit. I got a good start with fast pottery, then opted for warrior code to some easily build offense and fast catapults as they are essential in AW. I thought long choosing between IW and fast math. IW and eventual conneting the iron would take too long due to the bad terrain. So I would have needed warrior code first anyway. So math for catapults it was and it was a wise option.

Cats and archers easily handled all assaults and slowly gained terrain versus Babylon, Egypt, Russia and Aztecs, while I fortified some spears in the southern mountains against incoming Iros.

3 pillaging 2 spear/1 archer groups harrassed enemy capitals. They eventually died, but did their job in buying time for much needed expansion.

Leaders provided Pyramids, Great Libary - inducing golden age, an immediate revolt to monarchy with a lucky 2 turn anarchy - Sun Tzu and an army. Then I got into world wide contact and spotted the complete absense of iron. For the immediate future this was an tremendous advantage for the human player, who can handle cats and longbows. So with an already secured position and FP under consturction a loss was unlikely. But the game would last only 10 weeks. I started 2 weeks after opening and spent one week to reach my current position. Hm ... 7 weeks are by no means enough for the mob up phase without rails, as units would move ages towards the frontier. Maybe I would have tried with additional ~6 weeks and maybe I'll continue someday. But I stopped for now and probably won't come back.

Urugharakh

[Sirian]

Airlifts would have allowed for moving units instantly to near the front. I realize the lack of rails would have added to the already heavy burden, and the lack of factories would mean no production advantages in the late game, but it would also mean responding to ships landing from the other continent would have been more than a negligible threat.

If folks can tolerate knights and cavalry on roads in conquest or Always War games that never get to rails, I figured they could tolerate tanks and mechs on roads as well.

I hope you enjoyed the portion that you played, and thanks for reporting. It surely would have been a clinic to study your complete solution in a full report, but you're right, a game like this is a time sink even under the best conditions. Thanks as always for you contribution.

It seems a lot of folks passed on this one. Now that the situation is known, I wonder if some will want to try their hand at it. Most games lose too much once they have been spoiled, but this one might be an exception.


- Sirian

[Kodi]

After the grueling past few epics (Ports Your Goal, Denial of the Nile, The X Factor), I think it would be nice to have a builders epic or two

[Dwip]

After the grueling past few epics (Ports Your Goal, Denial of the Nile, The X Factor), I think it would be nice to have a builders epic or two

Seconded for a builder epic, or at least something that won't claim my life. I'd like to do some more epics, but not if they're going to be long, grueling, and be pretty much an automatic loss.

Like this one would have been, say. AWE? Ironless? Jungle? I can't even handle AWM yet.

[Grimjack]

I shamefacedly must report I never finished this one either.

I mostly held my own due to Great Library, and late contacts, but getting Education before even Invention was a terrible blow, as I had not had time to build my economy enough to sustain self research.

I had hopes up that there would be iron on a small island somewhere far out to sea though, as I would not play a game where I could not get Rails. I do not care one way or the other on the added build advantage of rails, but the tediousness of moving huge stacks of units is not why I play Civilization.

I may take it out one more time later, as it still is a challenge to see if I can catch up in tech fast enough for my leaders to rush crucial wonders. Too bad you cannot leader rush a tech instead of a wonder

My profuse congratulations to anyone who managed to complete this game, win or lose.

Grimjack

[Grimjack]

I put together a really really short report.

Here