Spaceship comparison game

[fed1943]

After several trials and replays,I must agree Solo.At Emperer/immortal the CSslingshot+Pyramids is very risky,even with Industrious and 2 cities(both great commerce,1 good hammers).The MetalCastingsling+Py seems better and easyer than the CSsling(both with Oracle).
Best regards,

[solo]

Originally posted by Swiss Pauli


Made a terrible error by not switching to BUR after CS Sling: barbs were at London's gate so I had to delay by a few turns and then I utterly forgot about it for 10 or more turns.

Same memory problem here! However, I was luckier to get the Great Library done before the AI. Having it really makes a difference in early research speeds and produces that first GS more quickly for an Academy.

RJM,

A religious leader such as Gandhi or Saladin might be a good choice for the second game. I think if you combine early religion with the CS slingshot, you can achieve very competitive results. Much depends on the setup and how many AI are nearby at the start, as well as the leader traits.

[Swiss Pauli]

Originally posted by Swiss Pauli
Just completed Lib sling, but feel I'm missing a good Ironworks city. Switched to free religion which I hope will buy some time for me to build a military deterrent cos the AI is getting Astronomy.

Overall, I thought I'd struggle to launch as early as solo and uberfish, but I've made some bad mistakes so I don't see myself lauching until mid-C20th.

Well it panned out pretty much as I had forseen it. Monty declared war in 1695 but by then I had enough Cavalry (having taken Nationalism as my free tech from Lib) to see off his landing party, although my losses were higher than expected.

The key was, however, that I had got Cathy to agree to a defensive pact. Monty's huge miltary got smashed by Cathy so he didn't come back, save for a couple of frigates. He did get Jules to join in, but I countered by bribing Mao (with Communism, natch) to attack his neighbour.

Having traded myself into an OK position, I pop-rushed heavily before switching to USUF and then buy-rushed my way home. The AIs fought amongst themselves and I lauched in 1947, just as Jules got wiped out by Mao. UN Sec Gen Cathy was a good 30 turns away from take-off.

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by Swiss Pauli

Having traded myself into an OK position, I pop-rushed heavily before switching to USUF and then buy-rushed my way home. The AIs fought amongst themselves and I lauched in 1947, just as Jules got wiped out by Mao. UN Sec Gen Cathy was a good 30 turns away from take-off.

Good result - do you happen to have any saves you can post?

RJM at Sleeper's

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by solo

A religious leader such as Gandhi or Saladin might be a good choice for the second game. I think if you combine early religion with the CS slingshot, you can achieve very competitive results. Much depends on the setup and how many AI are nearby at the start, as well as the leader traits.

I've had a few attempts with Saladin. The spiritual trait practically guarantees an early religion, but the other slingshot problems remain - particularly the "distortion" of the research path.

I'm not sure whether there are any more people planning to have a try at the first game, so we might want to wait a bit before starting a new one. Anyway, what's the general opinion? Should we have another game? If so, what leader? What level? What game speed? What map?

RJM at Sleeper's

[Swiss Pauli]

Originally posted by rjmatsleepers


Good result - do you happen to have any saves you can post?

RJM at Sleeper's

No saves to post; I managed to delete some saves I wanted to keep in my spring cleaning.

But my big mistake was not to risk taking on the bear that appeared near the copper. Running away meant I didn't see the fish, so I didn't know that city #2 should have been put there.

Other than that, I think USUF was safer for this game than REP cos of the relatively low production possible on the island. Less spectacular for sure, but a win's a win.

[Swiss Pauli]

Originally posted by rjmatsleepers

I'm not sure whether there are any more people planning to have a try at the first game, so we might want to wait a bit before starting a new one. Anyway, what's the general opinion? Should we have another game? If so, what leader? What level? What game speed? What map?

RJM at Sleeper's

My preferences: Continents/Standard. Epic or Normal. Random Leader.

[solo]

Yes, we should wait a bit before another game, to see if any others post results for this one. I just enjoy participating, have no particular preferences, so whatever the rest decide is fine with me.

[rjmatsleepers]

I have been experimenting with different versions of the CS slingshot from this start. My best effort is when I built the Oracle in a second city. This enabled me to build the Great Library and an Academy in my capital. The result was nearly (but not quite) as good as the Pyramids, Great Lighthouse approach. It makes me suspect that without ready access to stone, the slingshot may well beat the Pyramids - with a philosophical, spiritual leader anyway

RJM at Sleeper's

[solo]

I agree about your point about stone, which is almost necessary for the Pyramids without an Industrious leader.

One more way of playing the CS slingshot is to press on to Education instead of going back for Alphabet and Literature. This approach works best in a game where contact with all of the AI is delayed due to an isolated starting position.

I have tried several games at Emperor level, and have discovered that maintenance problems kick in a lot earlier and that on maps shared with aggressive AI, self-preservation becomes a real concern! The Great Lighthouse is especially valuable, if you are in a situation where you can put down your cities on coastal tiles. The extra trade from the GL allows more cities earlier. Without it, even the third city must be delayed a bit until commerce starts to develop or Currency is learned.

[Swiss Pauli]

Ready for another game? I've been looking at new start where I lack the means (start/civ/leader) to get to CoL, so have instead gone for early Oracle taking Alphabet for a tech trading monopoly.

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by Swiss Pauli
Ready for another game? I've been looking at new start where I lack the means (start/civ/leader) to get to CoL, so have instead gone for early Oracle taking Alphabet for a tech trading monopoly.

I'm game to give it a try. Post the start and let's go!

RJM at Sleeper's

[solo]

Sounds good to me, too! Can you post your start?

[Swiss Pauli]

I rolled a few starts this morning. We've got Monty, Mansa, Toku, Izzy and Hattie to pick from. Conditions are Continents/Standard/Monarch/Epic. All the starts seem reasonable enough (I binned one for Ghengis that was weak).

I'll upload some screenies later.

[Swiss Pauli]

http://apolyton.net/upload/view.php?file=76188_Hattie.JPG

Fish, corn and some FPs.