AU207: Big Planet - Strategy, Spoilers and Comments

[Konquest02]

Originally posted by BigDork

Grr....the damn Koreans(no offense to real Koreans out there) They got the Great Library 1 turn before me. I hate them. Hate them, hate them, hate them. I plan on nuking them someday. "You remember 2000 years ago when you got the GL? Well, here's your payback." Yeah, that'd be great. Oh well, more later...

BigD

As Dominae taught me: "You want a piece of me !?!" Rinse and repeat. You'll feel much better.

I got the same thing with the Mongols and I am forming plans to avenge my 267 shield loss...

Re Barbs uprisings: Each civs gets his own barb camp, but I got two!! The Zulus' camp spawned on my part of the territory... It was 3 tiles from their cities, but they were separated by the detroit... I hate those barbs!! You'll see in red are Zulus' barbs and in green are injured units coming back from fighting my barbs... I was really angry when I saw that second uprising...

--Kon--

[CerberusIV]

I haven't got that far. I managed to block the NW chokepoint with a city but no sign of the Germans yet. I decided to let the Zulus slog through the mountains whilst I swordrush the Babs (4 cities).

Dominae - why are there whales off the E coast but it is not possible to found a city close enough to exploit them? Did you paint in a few extra mountains?

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by badams52


I wonder if this isn't the effect of a huge map. More cities to conquer = longer wars = less peace = less focus on economics.

The strangeness of my game came from two things.

(1) Thanks to getting Pottery popping the hut in the opening turn, I researched both Mysticism and Polytheism on a 40-turn basis. That was probably okay for Mysticism, but I suspect that I should have pushed Polytheism harder in order to be able to trade it. (I'm not used to huge-map research rates, so it's hard to figure out how growth will affect research rates when a tech starts off with a 40-turn time estimate.) In any case, I was left with very little tech trading power, and that put me in a trap where a research-oriented game wouldn't work nearly as well as it would normally.

(2) The War Chariot is a pretty awesome UU - a horseman at two thirds the cost when terrain can be made to cooperate. Even against Zulus, the cost/power situation is the same as with archers vs. spearmen but the movement rate is a lot faster (although I used swordsmen for a good bit of my punch on that front). With plenty of swordsmen and workers to punch through difficult terrain, my force of swordsmen, WCs, and horsemen (from cities that could build horsemen as fast as WCs) was able to do some serious romping, and I figured that I could catch up in tech later.

[nbarclay]

The map generator doesn't guarantee that the land tile you'd need to use to take advantage of whales won't be a mountain. Such situations are not something that implies manipulation of the map.

[BigDork]

Kon...

Yeah, I understand the lost shields. I ended up settling for a regular library instead. I couldn't even build a different wonder. Really ticked me off.

I too ended up with 2 barb camps uprising. One near the Zulu chokepoint the other on the German side of the other chokepoint. Some of the barbs headed for the Germans but not enough. I was trying to get settlers up to the spices up there and both got taken. That really made me mad. I'm blaming the Koreans for that too.

BigD

[Theseus]

Posting this without reading the above (yet)...

What a blast!! My poor computer is struggling at 1000AD, but a great game so far.

Damn, it's a big world! Not used to this at all, so mission accomplished from a learning framework perspective.

Carthage rocks.

I'll catch up on this spoiler thread tomorrow... I've got some nice tidbits to relate, like "The Care and Feeding of Neigboring Civs Redux"... MWAHAHAHA!!

[CerberusIV]

This has certainly been an interesting way to get to grips with a large map. The Germans went north and east so the area NW of my cities stayed unoccupied. I finally completed swordrushing the Babs but it was a rather bloody affair - several elite swords lost and no leaders so I have to build my FP the hard way.

It is now 450AD. I have just switched to Republic and am consolidating. The Babs respawned in the vacant area so I will move in a few settlers whilst researching Chivalry. By that stage I should have my FP up and be able to sweep the Babs, Germans and Zulus. The Mongols will be the big test as they my strongest rivals.

Hard work but interesting.

[CerberusIV]

I too had a problem with a barb uprising. They started SE of Rouen but moved through the mountains towards Besancon. Most of my units were in the south fighting Babs. ONE conscript barb horseman took out a single vet spearman defending Besancon, despite the defender being fortified in a town on a hill and didn't lose a single HP. Worse still, Besancon was only a few turns from completing a temple. Eventually I rushed a temple under republic which has squeezed Intombe.

This is at Regent (I dropped down from Monarch as I haven't played a full game of AU before).

[badams52]

one interesting common theme I've noticed here is that you all are wiping out the babs forcing them to respawn. I don't think I've ever forces a civ to respawn before.

Which makes me think, wouldn't you love to be able to respawn if you are wiped out by the AI too early?

[Konquest02]

I think this game shall be known as the "Game of the Stolen Wonders"

Remember from an earlier post that the Mongols stole MY GL by only 2 turns. Well, the same pattern repeated. The Koreans stole MY JS Bach's Cathedral by 4 turns!!! They just clinched the number two spot on my most hated civ, #1 being the Mongols as they are easier to reach.

I just attacked the Germans to 1: relocate my palace to Berlin and 2: clear the way for my invasion of Mongolia.

I have met the other continent but I will wait a little bit before telling what happened here, not to spoil the early game of those who are less advanced than me.

More to come later!!

--Kon--

[Fosse]

Fosse's Game in Progress

I've managed to get a few days of this game in finally... and what I've learned more than anything is I NEED TO ACTUALLY DO THE THINGS I KNOW I NEED TO DO!!!

I'll explain that as I go along.

I chose France, for the traits and a later GA than Carthage. Plus, I wanted to give the Au musketeers a shot before they got put back to the old way.

I plant my settler where he starts and get 25 gold from the hut, and start my expansion.
I decide to go for the Great Library, so I start a 40 turn research on writing.

My first warrior heads north to check out the mountains, my second goes south to meet Babylon in about 3350 BC. I trade them my alphabet and masonry for ceremonial burial and bronze working.

My second city is south, by the cow, and it becomes my settler pump. At that point I build a temple and barracks in Paris, and then start pumping out vet warriors to eventually wipe out Babylon.

First thing I knew I should have done...
REX better. I had one settler pump only, supplemented by a few settlers from random cities. I knew better, especially on such a large map with so many cities before OCN is hit.


I pay Babs some gold for pottery just before meeting the Zulu.. I sell masonry for warrior code.

I start building a palace in Lyons for my eventual Great Library, and I buy iron from the Zulu (who I think are on a seprate landmass at this point, because the warrior I had up north came home to quell disorder). I upgrade 8 vet warriors and start south to Babylon in 690BC.

By now I have met Germany, and had my contact traded around to the rest of the world. 1 turn before I finish researching literature I hear the Mongols are building the Great Library. Next turn, there's nobody to sell it to.

My swords make quick work of Babylon, exiling their leader to a city in the western jungles before I get peace. I build the Great Library, and on the next turn learn Polytheism, math, horseback riding, Code of laws and philosophy. I trade these around for gold and maps, so now the world is revealed to me.

[Fosse]

2nd thing I knew better, but did anyway

I didn't have nearly enough workers. Whenever I have an industrial civ, I tend to have one for the first three cities...and then never build another until I realize how desperate the situation is. I had about eight from the Babylonian war after I exterminated their last city, but still. There is no excuse for such a small worker force as the one I had around 400 BC.. .only about four natives and eight foreign... this for about ten cities, and growing all the time.

I also realize that I'm not REXing enough. So I start another round of hard core expansion, aided by the Pyramids which Babylon built THE TURN BEFORE I took their original captial.

In 350 BC I get a barbarian uprising that lays waste to a few unguarded settlers in the northwest. I turn the Babylonian forces on the barbs... whom I hate. Even before the uprising, they had managed (along with the RNG) to kill about six of my exploring warriors. Very frustrating.

After the uprising is quelled, I turn to building. Marketplaces start going up everywhere (the GL just taught me how), and I discover Republic in 210 BC. Four turns later, the French republic is born. I want to be peaceful for a while (Zulu land looks terrible, and Germany and I are both still dropping settlers in the western jungles), so I'm signing ROPs all around.

Around the time I discover Chivalry (reserached myself), I notice how painfully small my horse army is, meaning few upgrades. I MUST learn to build my military.

At one point Mongolia declares war, and I don't worry as they are so far away... and I've decided to use my small but trusty knight army to take out Germany. I buy Japan into the war, and begin. If only I'd built up that military.... The jungle cities fall no problem, but Germany troops stop me in the hilly land at the new northern part of my empire... my republic's citizens eventually force me to go for peace.

I'm in a race for the Sistine when two things happen in one turn: The GL discovers Education, and the Ottomans build Sistine. First time somebody not on my continent builds any wonder.



In 940 Japan demands economics, but Smith's isn't close to done yet and I want it badly. Samuri don't fall to my knights, and I have to buy the rest of the contient in to prevent losing the old Germany cities. Thank God those Musketeers were ablet to get to the front lines quickly. After a while War weariness is kicking my butt, plus Japan just build a few cavalry, I bail on the alliances and declare peace.

I am able afterwards to buy navigation from another civ, but not before they discover the eastern world and trade my com around. I do manage to discover the Vikings, and in 1050 I whored economics for BIG gpt and some luxuries, 1 turn before finishing Smiths.

That's where I am now.


COMMENTS
I may never finish this game or even play enough for another AAR, at least not for a few weeks... so this might be it from me.

Knowing something isn't the same as doing it... I knew I'd have to REX like mad and build a military.... but I didn't. I always get distracted with libararies or little projects. Must force myself to play what I know will win.

The map is nice... the chokepoints and rugged terrain are great.

No Killer AIs on either contient. Mongolia is definatly dominant on mine, and the Ottomans on the other... but no HUGE edges for the AIs.

Interesting geography, and REALLY rugged terrain. I liked the chokepoints. The luxury trade on the home contient was pretty small... though I LOVED discovering the land of Incense in Scandanvia. Having the world supply in one Civ was a GREAT idea. I have all kinds of greedy plans to "colonialize" that island and make a killing in the luxury trade.

Scandanavia, other than the incense, is kind of wasted. With nobody to trade with they were in the early part of the ancient era for WAY to long. I traded them Monarchy for incense around 1000 AD. I felt bad, as the Berserker will never get its window of opportunity... enormous as that window is.


Thanks for putting the work into this Dom.

[Mountain Sage]

Originally posted by badams52


I wonder if this isn't the effect of a huge map. More cities to conquer = longer wars = less peace = less focus on economics.

That just seems wrong in so many ways...

Nope,

You can still play it peacefully and focus on economics. I had to destroy 2 civs in the process, but that was an unfortunate concur of circumstances
I'll do my posting tomorrow.
Cheer up! BTW, what civ do you play?

[badams52]

Originally posted by Mountain Sage
Nope,

You can still play it peacefully and focus on economics. I had to destroy 2 civs in the process, but that was an unfortunate concur of circumstances
I'll do my posting tomorrow.
Cheer up! BTW, what civ do you play?

The "that just seems wrong in so many ways" wording was referring to being in a republic in a war till my citizens become very unhappy, then switching to monarchy. Like in real life a country like America can switch from a republic to monarchy and all of the sudden everyone who hated the war now doesn't care about the war.

Maybe you could make a statement for being in a police state, but it simply isn't very realistic.

Oh, and I'm not playing this round, just sitting in the peanut gallery making comments every now and then to increace my...uh ...understanding and everyone elses of the differences in the huge map game.

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

Oy vey!

This Spoiler thread has come along quite quickly... but thankfully, it hasn't exposed much that I didn't already know.

Well, I too being a wussy, am playing as Regent, and furthermore, as the Carthaginians. I am coming to the end of my GA, having used a NM to defend myself from a German onslaught.

No screenshots yet, I'm so sorry... but envision my Northern frontiers as the Ithsmus where Zululand ends and the area near all the spice in the jungle south of Germany.

The city I built here is where I held off the Germans... took a considerable number of troops, but in the meantime, I'm well on my way to having Sun Tzu's, Leo's and the Sistine.

I've been living in peace with the Babs, using them to deflect enemy attacks. They have no cities of worth aside from their capitol after all, so it'll be no sweat to wipe them out later.

The only thing I'm worried about in terms of UP are the Mongols... Germany's a little too big to take out right now... I'll probably do Zululand, Japan, and America, and then Germany. But those Mongols already have over 30 cities... ALL BUILT BY THEM!!! Not to mention half of America!!! Holy crud!!!

Well, screenshots coming soon... I promise... and one last thing, Dominae, you might have been trying to be "evil" on us with the 2 ithsmuses and the mountains, but you gaev us plenty of luxuries to start out with... I'm not worried.

Haven't gotten to gunpowder yet though...