AUSG101 - Opportunist team DAR 1

[Nor Me]

It looks like I took a different approach to all the DARs I've seen so far. I started out thinking about an archer rush. But somehow it ended up being pure builder.

I don't have time to write a proper DAR now but, not to give anything away, here's the final screenshot:

[Arrian]

Well played, guys. So we've got a 5 space ring, a 4 space ring, and a 3 space ring. Heh.

Ah-hah! There's the iron... I missed it because an American warrior is on it in my game.

-Arrian

[Rhothaerill]

Originally posted by Arrian
Well played, guys. So we've got a 5 space ring, a 4 space ring, and a 3 space ring. Heh.

Ah-hah! There's the iron... I missed it because an American warrior is on it in my game.

-Arrian

I was wondering how many people would use ring city placement. I set the map up to be able to at least start with one. It was nearly impossible to utilize in AU209 and I wanted to see what people could make of it in this game.

[Dominae]

Part 1/7

I'm next.

I finished these 40 turns a couple of days ago, but for no good reason lost the saves and had to replay the whole darn thing again from my detailed log (good thing I kept one). Then when got around to writing my first post, I lost all the text because the file I attached was too big. Bleh. Hopefully nothing will go wrong this time.

As I mentioned, I've kept a very detailed log of my moves within the first 40 turns. I'll include as an attachment, and will use this space to write a more "interesting" report.

A bit of explanation is in order concerning the log. For the first time ever playing Civ3 I decided to rename my units in this game. Since we're all playing this together (assuming my save gets picked), I think it would be fun to play with names a bit, kind of like in democracy games. I've stuck to a convention with the naming, based on famous actors, as follows:

1. Military units are named after handsome, relatively young male actors that have been in at least one action film. You know the ones: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, etc. Example: 'Baldwin the Warrior'.

2. Workers are named after older, iconic actors, such as Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart. I happen to think it's funny to have a grand empire built on the backs of aging men. Example: 'Eastwood the Worker'.

3. Scouts are named 'Pacino the Scout' and 'DeNiro the Scout'. I doubt there will be more than two in my game, and I wanted to render hommage to these two actors in particular.

4. Settlers are not named, as they disappear so quickly.

Anything else is up for grabs. For now, "military units" is just Warriors and a Spearman, so I'm sure other conventions can be thrown in for other types of units, like mounted ones. Also, there is no particular reason to not use the names of female actresses, even though I did not do so in this first block.

On with the report!

The starting location looks rather good, but I'm still not happy. You see, 2 Plains with Cattle only produces a +4 Food surplus after Irrigation under Despotism. With a Granary, that only grants growth every 3 turns. What you really want is growth every 2 turns, which requires a +5 surplus.

Tip #1: The very early-game is defined by the search for Food, particularly tiles that produce over 2 Food under Despotism (i.e. those with bonus Food resources and/or Flood Plains). The ultimate goal here is to find a city-site that will provide a +5 Food surplus, as this allows for the best Settler/Worker pumps. These sites should be favored above all else.

So, I had two options: 1) settle the start spot immediately, and hope there was another extra Food tile in the city radius, or 2) explore a bit first. Given that the Arabs are Expansionist, I felt the second option was better, since I had a perfectly good Scout with 2 moves lying around.

Tip #2: When Expansionist, you almost always want to your first move to be with the Scout. The Scout will uncover new tiles that may allow for a better city-spot than the starting location. It's even not a bad idea sometimes to scout with your Worker, too.

Where should the Scout go? Well, from Aeson's thread on scouting, I remember reading that it's best to explore East and West first. I could see Forest to the West, which would slow down my Scout. East it was. I moved the Scout two tiles East, and huzzah! lo and behold there's a Game tile sitting right there in close proximity to the two Cattle. The Worker went onto one of the Cattle tiles just to uncover a bit more darkness, then the Settler was ordered to go onto the Bonus Grassland tile across the River, the city-spot for my first city.

Tip #3: Although not recommended in general, it is sometimes best to place a city on a Bonus Grassland tile. Some things, like extra Food and fresh water access, do take precedence over that extra Shield.

Below is a screenshot at the end of my first turn:

[plattfuss]

Since I had no clue how to get those nice pictures in here I will give you a brief description, hoping someone can give me a hint so I will post the screenshots afterwards.

In 2150 I have 3 cities, one 3 hexes south of Mecca and the other new one right below the horse in the north east.

6 warrior
2 scouts
3 worker

All first level tech plus writing and myst and 243 Gold.
Mecca has granary.
One warrior blocks the tile connecting the carthagian peninsula.
One american city destoyed (I popped up a hut with a warrior and right next to it a lonely settler build).

Before I saw the other screenshots my judgement of my situation was quite positive because the land to the south with the city on the hill is easily defendable (one city on the connecting tile to carthage to come later), the americans are backward due to the city loss.

However, I admit I would rather have 5 cities by now .

Plattfuss

[Dominae]

Part 2/7

On my second turn I founded Mecca, and queued up a second Scout. The Worker went to work on the Plains with Cattle tile (Irrigation). My first thought about the initial city queue was: Scout, Warrior, Worker, Granary. However, I was fully prepared to change this at a moment's notice. With so many Shields to exploit right away (2 from each the Cattle tiles, plus 2 from the Game tile), early production was a very flexible thing.

Then the Scout popped the Goody Hut and found a Conscript Warrior. Not excellent, but pretty good as it's another unit for exploration.

I sent the Warrior off East, as there was Forest and such in that direction, which is not really good for a Scout. The Scout could either go North or South (or double back). I chose South, and saw coast. Hm, no it can either go double back North or West. I chose West because I wanted to explore as much terrain as possible around my capital.

Tip #4: It is usually better to send exploration units off "deep" in one direction, in order to find as many civs as possible. However, if extra units are on hand, it pays to uncover all the tiles around your capital. This allows for more efficient uses of your Worker(s), as you can plan your city-spots and lay down tile improvements accordingly.

I'm rewarded with doubling back West with the Scout when I see another Goody Hut SW of the capital. And joy of joys! it turns out to be a free Settler! Are we playing Monarch, or Regent?

A screenshot of 3850BC:

[plattfuss]

below the exact report of action:

4000: Build mekka, chose bronze working, Set research to 90%.
3950: Start to irrigate cow
3900: popped up hut, got map
3850:-
3800: finished scout
3750: popped up hut, got mysticism and warrior code, Start to build road /
3700:-
3650:-
3600: build warrior
3550:-
3500: build warrior
3450: popped up hut.got map
3400: met Carthage, traded Warrior code and ceremonial burial for masonry and 32 gold. Then traded mysticism and pottery for alphabet and 3 gold 3350:-
3300: met Japan. Traded alphabet and 10 gold for the wheel
3250:-
3200: traded ceremonial for 10 gold with japan, traded 20 gold from America for tech, met America, build settler, reduce research to 10%, research iron working
3150: worker starts to build Mine
3100:-
3050: popped up hut, nothing
3000: build warrior , build Medina
2950:-
2900:-
2850: build road
2800:-
2750: Medina builds warrior
2710: mekka builds settler
2670:-
2630: got warrior from hut next to Boston. Boston is not guarded 'move warrior towards Boston, declare war on America to Weaken them by taking Boston
2590: destroyed Boston, build Damascus
2550: Medina builds worker
2510:-
2470: made peace with America
2430:-
2390: workers build road
2350:-
2310: moved workers to horse tile
2270: workers irrigate tile
2230: _
2190: Damascus builds worker
2150: Mecca builds granary. trade contact With the Japanese, the wheel and 26 gold for writing with Carthage. @

Plattfuss

[Dominae]

Part 3/7

I got into a bit of puzzler concerning where I wanted to send the Settler. I knew I wanted to do some sort of RCP placement, but with so little information concerning the surrounding area, it was diffcult to decide on the exact configuration.

I felt I had two choices for city-spots that were nicely productive and would leave my options open with respect to RCP.

1. Move the Settler SE and settle by the River. This city-spot would accesses the Game tile, is coastal, and lies at distance 5 from the capital (a very flexible ring distance).

2. Move the Settler East then NE and settle a bit further North along the River. This city-spot would not access the Game tile, but could share the Cattle tile with Mecca once its borders expanded. Also, the city-spot lies at distance 3 from the capital, a ring which I've always liked to exploit.

In the end, I felt the first option (by the Game) was the better one. Although the city-spot was far from the capital, it had a few distinct advantages. First, it could produce 2 Shields per turn after Corruption by working the Game tile, which would be good for a quick Warrior, Temple, or Barracks. Second, the other city-spot would only work a Grassland tile until Mecca's borders expanded, which is not really very impressive. Third, I realised that Mecca would be using its Plains with Cattle tile constantly until the Granary got built (4 Food per turn is growth in 5 turns without a Granary), so there was little short-term advantage in sharing that tile.

Tip #5: City placement is very important. Before completion of your first Settler, you should sit back and take a few minutes to figure out where you want your cities to be. This promotes greater coordination for your Workers, exploration units, and military escorts.

So I sent off my Settler SE. Here's a shot:

[Dominae]

Part 4/7

You can spot a couple of things in that screenshot that I forgot to mention: 1) I completed the Scout and sent it North, thinking I was on a peninsula (I did not find the isthmus to Carthage for quite a while), 2) I set research to Mysticism, which would eventually provide trade bait in the form of Polytheism, and flexibilty in the form of Monarchy, 3) Medina was set to build a Warrior in fear of raging Barbs.

With Medina producing military units (for the time being), the burden to do so was shifted off Mecca, allowing it to focus on bigger things. Temple or Granary? Although I did want a lot of Culture in this game, I felt the earlier I built a Granary, the better.

With extra Food tiles around my capital, I usually like to build a quick Worker before moving on to the capital in order to keep up in tile improvements. However, with the high Shield output of Plains with Cattle, not to mention the fact that a Game tile is essentially an "improved" tile already, I felt I could get away with going straight for the Granary.

Tip #6 (controversial): The earlier the Granary (if at all), the better. Although the Worker almost always delays the completion of the Granary, it's not that big a delay, and is well worth the increased production for when the Granary is finally done (and the capital's pop is very high). This is increasingly true (whatever that means!) the greater the Food surplus in the capital.

I met the Japanese in 3450BC, and give them Warrior Code and Pottery for The Wheel and 8 Gold. I'm not too afraid of an Archer rush from the Japanese, and there's so much fertile land between me and them that a focus on economy is probably better in this game than an early rush of my own.

The next turn (3400BC) I was greeted by a Carthaginian Warrior coming up from the South through the isthmus. I also saw American borders to the NE. I suppose I should have explored that area instead of assuming it was a peninsula. I could not stop Carthage from meeting the other civs, but this is not all bad as at least it would speed up the tech rate somewhat (the more civs there are in contact with one another, the faster the tech rate).

Seeing (more or less) the shape, size and fertility of the continent, I decided once and for all to focus purely on economy in this game. The other civs were a bit too far to Archer rush quickly enough, especially in succession. The plan was simply to REX like crazy, and take care of them later. Therefore, I set Medina to built Workers after the first Warrior, which would chop down the Forest around the Game, producing a pretty good Worker pump (I opted against a Granary since there are not enough good tiles down there to warrant a larger city, and the +4 Food Game tile with Irrigation requires sharing to be used effectively, and I did not have any plans to put another city down there for quite some time).

In the next screenshot you can see a bunch of "interesting" things. First, my 'Cruise the Warrior' has reached the 1-tile Jungle isthmus down South. I ended up opting to continute exploring, since the Carths had already been through there, and I considered it unlikely that they would claim the isthmus anytime soon. Second, Medina is finishing up another Warrior before the Forest chop is complete. This other Warrior would be my only homeland defense for quite some time. Notice the Carth Warrior along my undefended borders.

Tip #6: There is little need to build many military units in the early-game, unless you're planning an offensive. Barbs do not appear until much later, and so the only thing your military units are good for is exploration and military police duty. Although building so few military units does feel kind of reckless, you can usually get away with it against the AI, to great benefit since you're focusing on purely economic things.

Finally, notice that the Worker around Mecca has finished improving the second Cattle tile. Where to from there? Although it pains me greatly to waste Worker-turns, I believe the right play is to beeline for the Game tile, in order to get to the +5 Food surplus in Mecca as quickly as possible. So I ordered the Worker ('Eastwood') across the River and into Mecca, for a brief visit with his family.

[Dominae]

Part 5/7

Another screenshot, and a tip:

Tip #7: Always try to time the completion of your Granary to occur before the Food box fills up. If the box under 10 Food when the Granary is done, you will not gain any benefit from it until the next time the city grows; if the box has more than 10 Food, you will that extra 1/2 a pop point right away. It is therefore sometimes necessary to actually slow down growth in a city that is building a Granary.

[Arrian]

I see you and I noticed the same thing w/regard to + food and using a granary. We chose very different responses to that, however. I moved my units in such a way that I didn't see the game until later.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

2630: got warrior from hut next to Boston. Boston is not guarded 'move warrior towards Boston, declare war on America to Weaken them by taking Boston
2590: destroyed Boston

Now THAT's what I'd call being an opportunist, Plattfuss! Well done.

-Arrian

[Dominae]

Part 6/7

After the Granary I built a Settler right away in Mecca, because I still did not feel threatened by Barbs or the other civs in any way. The Settler went three tiles to the NE to found Damascus.

Due to the tiles available, I decided to make Damascus another "pump" city (for continuous production of Settlers or Workers). 2 Flood Plains would get Food surplus to +4...where could I get the extra +1 surplus? Well, by putting Irrigation on a Game tile (once the Forest is chopped), you get a tile with +4 Food output. So, if Damascus were to work all those three tiles, it would have +6 surplus. Too much! And Mecca already needs the Game for itself to get to +5 surplus. Ah-ha! By sharing the Game tile, both Mecca and Damascus (each with a Granary) could grow in two turns: +4 surplus during one turn (working either 2 Flood Plains or two Cattle), and +6 the next. This would require micromanagement, but I felt it would be worth it.

However, for every "boring" thing you do, it's good to do a "fun" thing. I therefore decided to use the Forest chop near Damascus to build an early Temple. In fact, I took a break in all my three cities and built a Temple in each of them. Let's see if the AI can keep up with that Culture rate! Hopefully this would offset my bad feelings about the prospect of micromanaging the Game tile for the next 50 or so turns!

Tip #8: Micromanagement is very powerful. It is not possible to be really good at the game without micromanagement. Figure out a level of micromanagement that is good for you, and accept the fact that you could be better by micromanaging more.

Here's a random screenshot:

[Dominae]

Part 7/7

On the technology and diplomatic front, I had done very well for myself. I traded with American and Carthage for their techs, leaving me ahead of the pack. Then I started popping Goody Huts. Oh my! there were a lot of Huts on this continent. Here's a list of what I got:

Warrior
Settler
Warrior Code
Gold
Bronze Working
Map
Mathematics
Iron Working

And I've still not finished exploring beyond the Carthaginian lands. At the end of the 40 turns I've only researched one tech (Mysticism), yet I'm still way ahead of the pack. Here's are lists of techs I've got that the AI civs do not:

America: Alphabet, Iron Working, Mathematics
Carthage: Ceremonial Burial, Iron Working, Mathematics, Mysticism
Japan: Alphabet, Iron Working, Masonry, Mathematics

Expansionist is good! I felt no need to trade my techs away to the civs (they were broke anyway, because I took all their Gold). I suppose I could gift them the techs in order to increase the research rate, but that's a bit advanced and against the spirit of this game, IMO. I set Polytheism to a 40-turn pace (with 10% Luxuries) since this would be more efficient that all-out research, but I think I'll research techs as quickly as possible in the next blocks. Gotta keep things moving!

Tip #9: On Monarch and below, the human player sets the tech pace (at least, toward the end of the Ancient age). On Emperor and above, the human player must trade to keep up with the AIs. This generates very different strategies with respect to tech advancement. Know your difficulty level!

I continued exploring a bit, but my main focus in the final 20 turns was economy. I built another couple of cities, opting for a ring at distance 3, and another one at distance 5. Potentially this could result in a very tigh city spacing. Damascus started working on a Granary, Medina continued building Workers, the fourth and fifth cities started on units and Barracks...and all the while Mecca popped out a Settler every 4 turns.

Then the Barbs came.

I knew I was playing recklessly, so I was not surprised to see that my paper-thin defense (1 Warrior!) would have a tough time keeping the Barbs from annoying me. I therefore took a cycle of production to build a Spearman and a Warrior to help out in defense, in Mecca and Damascus. Since these Granaries cities were so rather large, they produced these units very quickly.

Tip #10: The less your defensive units "sit around", the better. If you think you can get away with producing them just in time to resist the Barb attacks, so much the better. Knowing how Barbs act and what they're capable of allows a lot of leeway economically, by removing the burden of producing military units "just in case".

Below is a screenshot of 2150BC. Here are some stats for my empire:

Cities: 5
Population: 12
Workers: 4
Military: 3 Warriors, 2 Scouts, 1 Spearman
Temples: 3
Granaries: 1
Techs: All to second level, exluding Writing
Gold: 300 (+12 per turn)

And that's about it. I'm sure there are some things I forgot to mention, but this DAR is already long enough!

[Dominae]

Finally a zip containing the save and a log.