Epic Forty: The Hittite Cosmonauts

[Griselda]

I'm looking forward to hearing how this went!

-Griselda

[Kylearan]

In Epic 39, I played a communist empire with sparsely settled cities going for space. And what do we get in Epic 40? A sparsely settled, non-representative empire with space as the only allowed victory condition! Nah, not again I say. Also, I had not the time to tend to multiple cities, so I did something I wanted to try for some time now: An OCC space race!

That would be mighty hard to do: The starting site had no luxuries (and, as it turned out, no resources either) to trade expensively away for techs. Not being allowed to switch to republic would mean a worse economy than usual. And the limited worker rule would get my economy going much later than usual, making wonder-building harder in the beginning. I had no idea if under these conditions an OCC space race would be winnable, but those who know my history with the Epics know that I don't mind reporting a loss, so let's see how this will go!

On the up side, the starting spot was near the coast, had some decent terrain, and no resources also meant that my city won't be a prime target for the AIs to attack. Also, the cheaper tech costs on this small map would help me, too. I moved the settler north and founded Hattusas. F10 revealed that no AI had warrior code, so that was my first research choice - I still haven't scored an SGL in C3C yet, and this will be another game I'll try to get one!

I built two more scouts, then a temple. Huts gave me a warrior, 25 gold, another warrior, then ceremonial burial. Not a good turnout for an expansionist tribe! I met the Ottomans in 3300 BC, then the Mayans in 3250 BC and they knew WC already but lacked CB, so I traded it away for masonry and 10 gold and began researching mysticism next. The plan was to research philosophy first and get monarchy as the free tech. While researching the prerequs for monarchy, I relied on the AIs to research writing for me. To that end, I sold alphabet to the Mayans and gifted it to the Ottomans. And what happened? The Ottomans went for polytheism first too, and beat me by six turns to it. Argh.

Meanwhile, I built the second most important wonder for my OCC, the colossus, and completed it in 1700 BC. That helped my economy a lot! What I forgot, though, was that it also sparked my golden age, wasted in despotism.

The Mayans researched writing, but only a few turns before I discovered it, so I ultimately lost the philo-monarchy gambit. That's why it's called a gambit, though. After the colossus, Hattusas built a curragh and sent it out exploring, and it found a bridge of shallow water to the other continent! Japan was found there in 1350 BC, and they were up literature, horseback riding, and map making. So I traded polytheism to them for literature and 55 gold and switched Hattusas to the great library.

Byzantium was contacted in 1300 BC, Babylon in 1050 BC. I completed the GL in 750 BC, got monarchy with it and revolted immediately.

I entered the medieval age in 450 BC. A galley with a spearman was sent out, and two more huts on islands gave me a settler (boo! - disbanded) and 50 gold.

Education came in in 350 AD, and I switched Hattusas from a prebuild to a university in 1, and switched on full research on banking, a tech the AIs tend to ignore and which I hoped to get first, for another shot at an SGL and as trading material. And indeed, I discovered it first in 480 AD and traded it away for techs, luxes, resources and money. Then I discovered economics first (with my one city!, then navigation first. No SGL, though.

In 620 AD, my one worker had *finally* improved all the tiles around Hattusas! That was very late. I had six muskets for defense, and several knights and catapults. My capital was optimized for max commerce, even if that meant less shields, to stay on tech parity as long as possible.

In 800 AD, finally some serious wars started, luckily not against me. Byzantines declared on Babylon, and Mayans on Ottomans, and the other civs got dragged in one way or another, too. Meanwhile, I discovered physics only after the Ottomans, who were clearly the top dog in this game, and who also had theory of gravity already. I sold physics to the rest. In 970 AD, the Ottomans had a two tech lead and were industrial. I'm not sure why they were the run-away AI this time, because Japan was about equal in size and shape and were in the same government? Anyway, to add insult to injury, the Ottomans managed to do what I did not: They had scored an SGL and rushed Newton's with it.

I went industrial in 1090 AD myself and started to research medicine at full steam - and got it first! With my one city! Amazing. But the other AIs were so slow, the Ottomans had still a monopoly on nationalism and steam power, so I couldn't trade medicine away yet. So sanitation was next. Later I was able to trade medicine away to the Mayans for nationalism, though. They were still fighting the Ottomans, by the way, but other than an Ottoman first-ring city changing hands a few times, nothing really happened.

Sanitation came in (no SGL again), and the other AIs failed to come up with anything themselves, so I went for steam power next, and got it and then electricity second after the Ottomans. Finally, in 1485 AD, Japan had an interesting tech apart from optional ones that I had not: Industrialization. And the Byzantines had fascism, and were very small from their war, so I dared to try to steal fascism from them...and succeeded! I traded it away to Japan for industrialization, rushed a factory in Hattusas with precious money and...revolted to fascism, temporarily reducing my city from size 15 to size 12. I needed the 200% workers for cleaning pollution later on! Only now did I remember that I was allowed a second worker thanks to the hospital, and built one. Heh, I failed to remember that when I played the old Epic with the same rules, too...

Once in fascism, I started to build Universal Suffrage as a prebuild for the Theory of Evolution. The Mayans were finally losing ground heavily, against the Ottomans and the rest of the world, so to get some money (which I would need! and to get the Ottomans as friends, I signed an alliance with them agains the Mayans and got 200 gold for that in 1495 AD. Unfortunately, the Mayans signed peace with the Ottomans only three turns later, and I actually had to kill some Mayan cavs with my own cavs and artillery, but later signed peace with them again and got 3gpt and 20g for it - my OCC against their 4CC.

In 1605 AD, my glorious city managed to get the Theory of Evolution! The Ottomans, who have known industrialization and scientific methods for some time now, were only able to start to build a wonder once they had signed peace with the Mayans - mobilization can be hazardous... I chose AT and electronics as my free techs. But now I saw that the times of researching on my own were nearing its end: Radio would need 32 turns to discover! So I researched espionage in 15 next, which nobody had. And while working on it, this happened...



It was poorness fighting misery again. Too bad for them that I just was in the process of upgrading to artillery and infantry, and so I had no problems defending against them. Later, I got some money for peace again.

I watched the Ottoman's research efforts and sold AT and electronics for tech and money when they were going for these. Espionage got me a tech from Japan, too. After espionage, I had gone for radio despite the long research time, and actually discovered that first, too! Of course without scoring a great leader. After building the CIA, my two glorious workers had irrigated all tiles for max city size/income, and after trading radio away, the time of espionage began. Motorized Transportation and Flight were the first two techs I carefully stole from the democratic Ottomans, and so I went modern in 1790 AD. Getting flight, the colossus finally became obsolete, dropping my income by a hefty 60gpt...

I brought Japan into the modern age as well. They had destroyed Babylon and the Byzantines earlier, and now were a democracy again. What followed was a careful look into diplomacy every turn, to see if Japan had a new tech, and then I would steal a tech from the Ottomans and trade for the tech from the Japanese. Tech pace was slow now, so I actually managed to successfully do a min-sci run on superconductors later, getting the tech after the Ottomans, but before Japan! Well, why was the tech pace so slow? Because in 1830 AD, Japan had declared war on the Ottomans, and nukes were flying left and right now! That was great, because I already had begun to worry about the Ottos attacking me out of boredom or something...

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I had started to prebuild for Apollo, but waited with buying aluminium until the prebuild would be enough to switch to Apollo and immediately get it, so I could build as many parts of the spaceship afterwards with that shipment of aluminium as I could. Why? Because importing aluminium is expensive, even when playing as an OCC, and I needed the money for thefts! I had precisely calculated the prebuild time before, but then pollution struck several times which my two workers had a hard time cleaning and I got confused. When I finally bought aluminium and switched to Apollo, I lost 79 shields! Ugh, I hope that won't cost me the race...

I completed the docking bay in 1868 AD and the cockpit in 1884 AD. Only then would Japan build their first part, and the Ottomans needed until 1898 AD to complete their first part. Nukes were still launched each turn, and now Japan's research path diverged from the Ottoman's. That was not so bad, because now I could try to steal from them, too. Getting caught and declared war on by the Ottomans would mean the end of the game, but not so with Japan... and I got "lucky" that the one time I *got* caught and declared war on, it was against Japan, giving me about 10 turns of a phony war. (Two times my spies failed to steal something from the Ottomans, one time escaping without notice, and one time, the Ottos "were not pleased". Luck was on my side!

I completed the thrusters in 1922 AD and finally switched from max irrigation to max production. I felt I needed the income for my steal attempts before, but now with the Ottomans going into the lead with the space race, I no longer could afford working irrigated tiles. in 1938 AD, it was my five parts vs. their five parts, but in 1946 AD they built two more parts and went into a lead again. In 1952 AD, all that was needed for a launch from one of us was robotics, and the Ottomans needed two parts to build, and I needed three. That was very exciting now!

In 1955 AD, I built the storage supply, and it was 8-8 again. But desaster has struck several years ago! I had suffered from pollution *five* times in seven turns! Both hills, both mountains and the irrigated flood plain wheat were hit, ouch! My two workers needed a long time cleaning this up, and, even worse, the pollution on the FP wheat meant that my city shrank in size, and I didn't have the worker force to quickly irrigate some tiles to regrow the city *and* clean up the rest of the pollution at the same time! I lost *a lot* of shields there.

In 1959 AD, the Ottomans had built the ninth part, and finally had discovered robotics. Pollution was cleaned now, but the city not at size 20 again, so in a desperate move I merged on of my two precious workers back into the city to work all tiles again, hoping no more pollution would come.

I completed my ninth part, the exteror casing, in 1963 AD, and now would need only four turns(! to build the last part and win the game, to win the one-city space race!

Unfortunately, the Ottomans finished their last part on the same turn.



Ah well. That had been the closest and most exciting space race I ever had - too bad I lost it. Could I have won this? Yes, I think so. Mis-calculating the Apollo prebuild (thanks to pollution! had cost me one turn. Then I could have switched tile improvement from max income to max production earlier, seeing the amount of money I had left in the end. When to switch was a difficult decision, and had I switched too early, maybe I would have had to wait with my last steal attempt because of lack of money. And finally, in my report for the last Epic, I asked what pollution in this game is good for. Well, getting my four shield-heavy tiles hit by pollution and losing pop to pollution on the floodplain wheat gave me the answer: Pollution can lose you the game.

But even if I lost, I had a lot of fun playing this Epic! It had been one of the most exciting end-games I ever had, and I think I will try the OCC space race again sometimes. Thanks Gris for this game!

-Kylearan

[Grimjack]

You can find the Grim Cosmonauts sparse report here: Grim Turnlog

The full report will soon be made available here: Grim Report

The executive version: Took a long time to spread, and thus research suffered. Was not on my toes as regards resources, and loss of Aluminum delayed launch.

Finally launched in 1818AD.

Thanks for the game sponsors. May you never lack the good comforts in life.

Grimjack

[Grimjack]

Amazing that it was even close with a OCC in that less than ideal starting position.

You have inspired me for many games to come in my OCC crusade in my solo games.

Grimjack

[Sir Bugsy]

These are my results from Epic Forty of the Realms Beyond Civilization tournament.

I moved my worker to the wheat then sent my scout N-E to the mountain.



I decided to settle one tile north on the coast. My scout continued east along the coast and in 3750 BC I got a settler from a hut. The capitol would build two scouts and then a granary. I quickly drew up a dot map and determined to move my volunteer settler one tile west.


In 3700 BC, Tarsus was founded and immediately started building its one worker. In 3550 BC we met the Maya. Given their proximity, I decide to skip the farmer’s gambit and build some cardboard cut outs. So Tarsus was switched to a warrior then a worker.
In 3400 BC, we meet the Ottomans. And in 2900 BC we got a village from a hut. Ugarit was far to the south in a less than optimal position.
Goody huts were very generous in this game. I eventually got a settler, a map, Mysticism, 25G, a village, map and Literature.
Here is my dot map for 2750 BC. The red arrow points out where my third city is located.

This pipe dream wouldn’t last too long as in 2510 BC – The Ottomans found Bursa and ruin my perfect plan. Back to the drawing board. Here is my revised dot map.

I really wanted to get the silks north of Bursa. You can see my settler just north of the silks.

To be continued....

[Sir Bugsy]

Yellow dot became Harran in 2390 BC and Pink dot became Hattusha in 1830 BC.
In 1910 we meet Japan with our curragh.
Here is my dot map from 1790 BC.

I was trying to get a settler to yellow dot to grab the last spice tile 2 east of Bursa. You can see I have a mini block running with my scout, the escort warrior and the settler. There is a Mayan settler pair just northeast of the block that is also interested in the spices. You can also see a second settler northwest of Tarsus. I would get both the yellow dot and the aqua dot, while the Mayans went to aggressively settle next to my capitol. The aqua dot would be nice since the hill on the western portion would end up holding iron.
In 1700 BC, Tyrana our sixth city was founded on yellow dot. Our curragh also met the Byzantines. The next turn, Aleppo was founded on aqua dot. Now I started looking at settling north of the Mayas and hopefully be able to grab the extra silks up to the northwest. The light blue line is the southern-most limit that I could settle within the rules.
I took three settlers and two escorts and started northeast.

Dropping one settler off to found Ankuwa in 1475 BC. Here is the dot map from 1375 BC, just before Kadesh would be founded on Red Dot.

Adana would be founded on blue dot in 1250 BC. You can also see the beginning of a move on my part. The Colossus is due in 20 turns. It would complete in 925 BC and spark my Golden Age.
I can see that Ugarit is really starting to feel the cultural pressure from the Ottomans. I decide that I need to get something out of the city, and there is a city site with ivory northeast of Ugarit. I switch the build over to a settler and walk him over to the elephants. Hubishna is founded in 610 BC for my eleventh city. I load up a settler pair float him over towards Japan and grab the double incense site with Alaca Huyuk in 590 BC. In settling I get literature from a hut.

To be continued....

[Sir Bugsy]

Bugsy - Part III

Here’s a shot of Ugarit from a 530 BC save:

Here’s Hubishna northeast of Ugarit:

Using intercontinental brokering I enter the middle ages in 470 BC. There is a massive barbarian uprising near Alaca Huyuk.

First I check to see if there is anything to buy with my gold. Since no one will even discuss a trade, I use my gold to establish embassies where I could. I gift the remainder to Tokugawa. After the barbs hit I sell literature to Japan and get my money back. Here is the eastern portion of the Hittite Empire.

You can see that I’ve just dropped off the settler pair on the island east of the Byzantines. I hold off switching governments until the Lighthouse is built. In 390 BC The Great Lighthouse is built in Hattusas. Emar is founded on the island for city number 13, and I revolt the same year. I draw a four-turn anarchy. In 370 BC Ugarit flips to the Ottomans. Must not have liked our chaotic government. Over the next 15 turns I march Ugarit’s worker over to Hubishna, and join him to the city.

[Sir Bugsy]

So now I’m back down to 12 cities. I ferry another settler pair over to the south coast of Japan and found number 13 (Alalah) in 10 BC. Continuing clockwise around the continent I meet the Babylonians in 90 AD.
Here’s an interesting picture. The rules say I can only have one worker until a get a hospital. How about if the Mayans help out.

I manage to grab a poor site in 310 AD by founding Ivriz on the far southwestern corner of Japan. In 590 AD I built the Sistine Chapel.
The middle ages were a period of quiet building which extended until 1180 AD. City-state concept was interesting. The people of Tyrana needed water to irrigate their lands. They attempted to negotiate with the people of Tarsus and even cleared a jungle hoping to get water from the north. They would eventually get their water from the Ottomans.
In 1340 we finally research Communism and revolt, drawing a six-turn anarchy this time. In 1365 AD, the Hittite People’s Republic is born.
In 1350 Ad, Communism is traded for Steam Power and Medicine. Finally the people of Tyrana have some negotiating power as the only readily available coal source was just north of their city.

Then in 1450 AD, nearly five and a half millennia of peace come to an end as the Ottomans declare on Maya. In 1475 AD, the Ottomans pull the Japanese into the war, and by 1490, there would be a complete dogpile, except for the peace loving Hittite People’s Republic.
In 1480, the Secret Police HQ was completed. And the next turn, the Ottoman’s completed the Theory of Evolution. I am far behind, and need to take some desperate measures to catch up. That means espionage/ In 1505 AD, the Hittites build their Intelligence Agency and slowly and carefully plant spies throughout the world. In 1530 AD, the ace spy in Istanbul steals a tech. Here were our choices:

The investment of 2696G in our spy gets us scientific method. Our ace trade representatives are able to get sanitation, replaceable parts, and the corporation. We would continue our thievery for quite a while.
Here are some shots of our empire in 1545 AD. The core:

Notice how Ozzy has pillaged every tile around Bonampak, but hasn’t figured out how to capture the city. The Northeast:

Our western cities:

[Sir Bugsy]

One of the interesting things I was able to observe throughout this period was the manner in which the AI wages war. Here is a shot of the front:

The Ottomans would move units back and forth with no apparent campaign strategy. Over the next century, I would steal Refining and Atomic Theory from the Ottomans, trading those with the other AI to catch up to the Ottomans. Since I was finally caught up in tech I decided to self-research Electronics so I could build the Hoover Dam myself. In hindsight this was an error. While I self-research, the Ottomans research Combustion, Flight, Mass Prod., and Motor Transport. The turn before I complete Electronics, the Ottomans have it.
My Hoover pre-build was constantly being hit with pollution. An investigation of Istanbul in 1665 shows that the Hoover Dam will be due in five turns. If I can get the pollution cleaned up I just might beat them. In 1670, another wave of pollution hits, and the project is lost.

Tarsus is switched to a hydro plant. Our capitol completes Wall Street in 1675. And Istanbul completes the Hoover Dam in 1685.
Ozzy continues to hammer at the Mayans, it is interesting to watch Jav Throwers enslave infantrymen. The other members of the alliance make peace, but each time the Ottomans pull them back into the war. Here is the shrinking Mayan nation in 1690:

About this time I notice that the rest of the world are in Fascism. How are Fascists at detecting spies? In 1700 I decide to find out how good they are, and spend 2716G for a steal.

I select flight. Ut-oh, Ozzy is now dressed in his Modern Era clothes. I turn around and resell it for a portion of what it is worth, but I need the money for more steals.

Since I don’t have oil, I find that Tokugawa is willing to sell it for a tech. “Here, combustion is yours.”
In 1710, after warring since 1450, the Ottomans finally capture Bonampak. Probably the longest siege on record. In 1725 I steal Mass Production. I was able to maintain a five turn steal pace throughout this period. Then in 1740, I get this message:

[Sir Bugsy]

In 1754, I start noticing that Ozzy is starting to act like the Byzantines did in RBCiv 13H. I remember Rubberjello’s advice and start preparing for a war. The first thing I do is purchase Motor Transport from Ozzy for a good chunk of change. I figure he he’s going to be a bully and attack, I ought to get something for it, like the cancellation of my debt. I spend most available cash and upgrade all my obsolete defensive units. And then…. nothing happens. Has the AI been reprogrammed to use some common sense?
My five turn steal cycle has been broken, and it takes me until 1784 to scrape together the cash to steal radio and enter the modern era. It seems as though I am far behind, because in 1788, the Ottomans build the first part of their space ship. I am in trouble here.
The other AI quickly follow me into the Modern Era. In 1796 I steal Fission from Ozzy and trade it for Rocketry. Great! I don’t have aluminum or uranium. The Babylonians have Aluminum and Theodora will have uranium when she finally gets to the Modern Era.
Our veteran spies steal Space flight in 1804 and we are able to trade it to Hammi for the precious aluminum. I now get up to a alternating four-turn, five-turn steal cycle.
1814 sees the completion for the Hittite Apollo program. Our steals keep us within striking distance of Ozzy. Pollution is kicking my butt, and Ozzy is starting to get a bit out of control.

I start to take more precautions, moving troops into the most vulnerable cities. Then in 1830, all hell breaks loose as I get this message:

Thanks to Ozzy’s spankage of the Mayans, the Hittites are number 2 in land area so if the forces can ever be scraped together, I’m counter attacking. I pull the rest of the world into a complete dogpile. In 1840, I steal Synthetic Fibers from under Ozzy’s nose and upgrade a bunch of tanks. Things are touch and go for quite a while. Hubishna and Ankuwa are nearly lost. It is a good thing that the AI is so poor at making war.
Our valiant spies continue stealing techs, and we keep the rest of the world happy by reselling them.
In 1860, the tide finally turns, and on consecutive turns the blights of Quirigua’

and Uaxactun

are razed.