Early Landing Comparison Game #4

[Heerscher]

Congrats with an excellent result!

Did your powerrating remain supreme during most of the game? In most of my early monarchy games my power rating is supreme, but I find it still difficult to extract tribute from all the AI, even if they have gold in excess. I play 2.42. It's not that I get no tribute at all, but it is just a lot less than on emperor level! Then I used to drain them of all their gold.

[solo]

Yes, my power rating was Supreme the whole game.

Besides having a higher power rating, I think the key to extracting a lot of tribute is having enough military units on the same continent, so I build a lot of warriors, since they are cheap and are also useful for maintaining martial law.

Maybe someone has tested this more precisely, to determine the number or ratio of military units that are required to open up the AI coffers.

[DrSpike]

I don't know about ratios but my feeling is it is quantitative not qualitative.......or at least the first effect seems to dominate.

[Zenon]

ELCG 4 Medium Map, Egyptians 856 AD Landing

Governments
Monarchy 2250 BC
Republic 625 BC
Democracy 60 AD

Wonders
MPE 1100 BC
Colossus 575 BC
ST 450 BC
Copernicus 125 BC
Isaac's 80 AD
Darwin's 260 AD
SETI 600 AD
Apollo 740 AD

SSC stats
size 8 425 BC
size 12 325 BC
size 21 100 BC
max. size 26 in 440 AD

Techs
Trade 1450 BC
Invention 40 AD
Railroad 200 AD
Automobile 420 AD
Nuclear Power 560 AD
Computers 600 AD
Flight 620 AD
Space Flight 680 AD

Key civ contact 2850 BC

AC arrival 856 AD

I had a good start in this game. After trade I tried a new strategy, concentrating more on SSC development than on tech pace and with size 21 in 100 BC and the SSC complete in BC years (only INC came in 80 AD), this worked better than expected. I had a lot of tech trades this way but not being supreme for a long period resulted in tributes of only 50g the whole game.

This time I also tried to build Darwins and SETI on a medium map. The conclusion is that Darwins didn´t bring any advantage as I had turns without tech advance that could have been avoided with more deliveries. SETI had brought good results in my ELG 3 large map game, but in this game I lost time because I was not prepared for the launch. 12 more freights + 2 more turns with trade would have been faster. In the end I sold almost everything to be able to launch a 15 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 spaceship in 820 AD. Both Darwin and SETI are worth building if the trade economy is strong enough.

It seems there are still improvements possible for early Monarchy. Considering the map, my start was the best I had so far and I will test this strategy again. Applying Monks celebrating Monarchy strategy Solo has shown an excellent result.

I am quite curious what will come up next.

Zenon


the launch sav:

[rjmatsleepers]

Good games Zenon and Solo . I noticed in Zenon's save that some of the wonders have an asterisk. Does that mean that they have already expired?

RJM at Sleepers

[solo]

RJM,

Yes, the asterisks mean an expired wonder. I admire your decision to press on despite such a disasterous start. If you mange a landing, I think it will be the first game doing it without a capital.

Zenon,

Another excellent game and you were first to Space Flight this time. You did much better adding colonies. I never seemed to have the time to add the few additional ones I wanted too. My excellent trading opportunities near the end gave me enough extra to speed up the space ship.

Comparing Monarchy and Republic, as well as the trade offs between making extra deliveries vs. building extra wonders such as Darwin's and SETI are making these last few games very interesting. Also the timing of SSC growth and that of helpers and colonies is another thing I continue to experiment with, also.

Much depends on the unique situation presented with each start.

While waiting for #5 and light blue, you might want to try the large map game in #4, too. So far, my large map game is going much better than the one in #3, but I am still undecided as to the best way to proceed.

This is a tribute to the complexity of this game, that once you think you've got an optimal strategy, something new or unexpected provides a surprise.

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by solo
RJM,

If you mange a landing, I think it will be the first game doing it without a capital.

I'm afraid I built a new palace so even if I land, I won't be without a capital. I haven't yet played beyond 1848. I think I need to get some good trades going, but at the moment the only AI civs I've made contact with are on the same continent. I also need to get my SSC ( ) growing, but most of the best wonders have gone already. On the plus side, despite spending most of the game as pathetic, I've managed to struggle up to mighty. But I'll finish the game before the deadline - either on AC or by retirement.

RJM at Sleepers

[rjmatsleepers]

I have now reached 1870. As a result of gifts and trades, I was briefly #1 in science, but the Vikings overtook me when they built Darwin's. Further scientific progress will be very slow - about 8 turns per advance before the effects of trade.

For the curious (or masochistic) I attach the save following my encounter with a couple of barbarian archers. Assuming you choose not to follow Dr Spike's excellent advice (start again) how would you cope with this? Basically I tried spitting out settlers and building a courthouse. I think the former was OK, but I'm not sure about the latter.

RJM at Sleepers

[solo]

RJM,

In the future this may be the way we play, to make it more of a challenge. First thing, each player must sell their palace and then see how they can manage with all that big time corruption!

I played it from your position for awhile, and found the the barbs were just warming up! They kept building archers and sending to them attack. Eventually, I accumulated 52 gold which I used to incite a revolt, but by then I was a bit behind the pace of my own game in which I never lost my palace!

Having seen what you're up against, just managing to launch and land before the game ends will be a quite a feat.

[Scouse Gits]

Originally posted by solo
RJM,

First thing, each player must sell their palace and then see how they can manage with all that big time corruption!

The game won't allow the sale of your Palace...only the construction of an alternative one.

---------------------

SG(2)

[SCG]

Civ I you could sell your palace, Civ II you can't. However you can found a second city and then build a settler in your capital, thereby destroying the palace

[DrSpike]

You can't sell your palace, but you can easily give it away by sticking your tongue out at the barb leader and calling him a big girl's blouse.

[rjmatsleepers]

AC Landing 1941 (Medium Map)

(THE STORY SO FAR ... In 2000 BC as a result of an encounter with a couple of Barb archers I was in despotism with no capital. During the long recovery I was sneak attacked a couple of times by the Romans. The red mist descended and I put aside the objective of reacing AC and decided to eliminate the Romans. In 1848 the last Roman city fell into Egyptian hands and the quest for an early landing resumed. Now read on.)

My technology advances came from Xining most of my cities, technology gifts from my allies (the Indians and the Vikings) and a steady trade with the Vikings and sometimes the Japanese. In due course there was a lot of demand from the Vikings for oil which I had in abundance.

I didn't have a single SSC, but I did have 4 (later 5) cities of a reasonable size. This meant that managing supply was less tricky. My switch to democracy was slowed down by the need to get my triremes back to port.

I planned to build a 33-8-8-1-1-1 spaceship, but I miscalculated and built Apollo too early. As a result the Vikings launched a 15-3-3-1-1-1 ship while I was still constructing. I sold a lot of city improvements and launched a 25-6-6-1-1-1 to land 1 year ahead of the Vikings.

The Vikings didn't take this very well and ended the alliance. Shortly afterwards we were at war. Initially I used the partisans to recover a couple of lost cities expecting this to mean that the Vikings offered peace, but they didn't. After that I simple used all my resources to prevent my new capital being captured before the landing.

This was an interesting experience. I do not recommend Xining up to a dozen cities for more than 50 turns. I'm not sure how much earlier I could have landed if I had ended the war with the Romans before eliminating them. It would have given me more time, but the captured Roman cities were vital to my trading and research.

I stopped keeping a detailed log, but I'll try to reconstruct as many of the key statistics as possible from my game saves and post them later.

RJM at Sleepers

[Scouse Gits]

Great result RJM! Your adventure may have taken longer than most but you'll be the only player offered film rights

--------------------------

SG(2)

[rjmatsleepers]

Thanks SG2.

Here are the stats to the extent I can reconstruct them.

Governments

Monarchy AD 300
Republic AD 1851
Democracy AD 1871


Wonders

SETI AD 1899
Apollo AD 1920

(I also gained control of the pyramids with the capture of Rome c 1500 AD)

SSC Stats
(No SSC, but stats for Memphis - my intended SSC site)

size 8 AD 1902
size 12 AD 1906
max. size 17 (AD 1911)

Techs

Trade gifted by Indians c 1000 AD
Invention gifted by Vikings c 1500 AD
Railroad AD 1855
Automobile AD 1888
Nuclear Power AD 1900
Computers AD 1898
Flight AD 1905
Space Flight AD 1912

AC arrival AD 1941

I was pathetic for much of the game and hence my key civ was the Romans to whom I had no intention of gifting any techs. After 1848 I was mighty and hence key civ the English (until eliminated by the Vikings). Tech gifting to them helped reduce research costs.

RJM at Sleepers