Spoiler Thread for AU 203

[Chemical Ollie]

Stupid me. How could I even think of Persia letting me keep the southeast leg? Just some turns after I went back to the game, they attacked without declaring war. My pikemen did not stand a chance against their hordes of cavallery and my 10 knights just disappeared before they even got a chance to counterattack. The stupid Xerxes still refuse to talk after razing 4 of my cities and conquering one. If I'm fast enough, I might be able to resettle some of the land, but this was a hard blow. And it isn't over yet - I have to make a humiliating peace first!

[Chemical Ollie]

Well, its getting worse...

Is communism good for OCC?

[Chemical Ollie]

Aaarggghhh! I have to replay this! After all, it was my first game in 2 months.

[Dominae]

I feel your pain Olaf. Good luck on the second try (hint: fortify the chokepoints early).

By the way, were you using the AU mod?


Dominae

[Konquest02]

The game got pretty interresting today.

1) While being really late through all of the medieval times and not building a single wonder (except the HGardens), I managed to gain a tech lead, mostly because of ToE and a well timed pre-build. I also got Hoover 5 turns later.

2) China and Persia were at war for at least 200 years non-stop. There were steady streams of knights/cavalry/riflemen/infantry fighting on my territory. It was a tie during most of the time and nobody ever entered the enemy's territory. This really helped me to catch up. Babylon (3rd world power) joined in on China's side for a little fight with Persia.

3) Rome is really active, being at war regularly, despite the handicap of having only one city... They were really behind everyone else...

--Kon--

[joncnunn]

Why does it look llike your Foreign Advisor is a mole for the Persian AI?

[Konquest02]

4) When I got ToE and Hoover, I traded away Atomic Theory.
From China, I got Ivory, Replacable Parts, Communism, 27 gpt, 800g (all their tresaury) and World map. From Persia, I got 25 gpt and all their gold (77g). From the Babs, I got the two lux I was missing (Silks and Wine). This really got me back in the game.

5) Because of that trade, China got instantly gracious. Then this...
As soon as I will get to MT, I will switch to Commie-dom and invade Rome for Oil. Then, the world is gonna learn a new name: Panzer...!

--Kon--

[BigDork]

In all my games, I've never seen the AI turn down a culture flip. Is this a super rare exception or was there a reason?

BigD

[Konquest02]

I too was really surprised when I saw this. I think the reason is that China was gracious with me because of the big trade a mad with them regarding Atomic Theory. This is the first time I experience this or ever see a screenshot on the forums.

--Kon--

[BRC]

It might have something to do with the OCN also, although I have no experience with this really.

[Konquest02]

Originally posted by Dominae
I feel your pain Olaf. Good luck on the second try (hint: fortify the chokepoints early).
Dominae

Try not to block the chokepoints for too long though, as China, Russia, Aztecs and Rome (yes OCC-Rome!!) declared war on me out of the blue, probably because I was hindering their expansion too much. I had to beg for peace on both (if not more) knees in order to survive.

Am I the only one who went through this? I'm playing 1.29f.
--Kon--

[Chemical Ollie]

I'm playing 1.29. Is there still an AU version for that? PTW will not be released in Sweden until January 30th, and I doubt that I will buy it. Firaxis does not deserve it.

The second game went better but I'm still having trouble with the Chinese riders. And the Russians sailed past my choke point blockers. I built GL, so I am able to keep up better in tech. Fighting the riders with muskets and knights is a better than spears and horsies. Made Russia and Persia join my side against China. But it's a frustration not being allowed to invade the Chinese territory once I turn the tide. Leonardo's workshop triggered my GA, so I am hoping to be able to stop the rider hordes soon.

[Konquest02]

Originally posted by BRC
It might have something to do with the OCN also, although I have no experience with this really.

I think you're right BRC. China declared war on me later in the game (yesterday night...) and razed 3 out of 4 cities they took me, including New Leipzig. I also have this revealing screenshot of China not settling in the empty ex-Aztec territory. The date of this screenshot is 1355 AD, but they have not founded any cities yet (in 1775AD). Babylon and Persia slipped a couple of cities there....

--Kon--

[jshelr]

Another unusual happening, but not as rare as the refusal to accept a flipped city: On buying radio, Germany entered the modern era and was given ecology. That allowed trades for both fission and rocketry and that, in turn, let me put syn fibers on one scientist and look to buy my way along the soutern tech branches. Instantly, back in the game due to nothing but good luck.

My guess is that, if you are still in one piece at this stage, then the human player will probably win during the modern era. Military tactics are much more complicated at this stage. (Give us a dozen settlers and 50 three-move panzers or MAs, along with some arty, and the AI is going to lose a lot of cities on one turn.)

[Dominae]

Originally posted by Konquest02
Try not to block the chokepoints for too long though, as China, Russia, Aztecs and Rome (yes OCC-Rome!!) declared war on me out of the blue, probably because I was hindering their expansion too much. I had to beg for peace on both (if not more) knees in order to survive.

Am I the only one who went through this? I'm playing 1.29f.

The key to not getting attacked too often is to divert the AI's aggressiveness to other civs instead of you. In my game, the Persians were all too happy to destroy me ('Annoyed' or 'Furious) up until around 1000AD. I did have to repel them at least twice. But when their forces were getting too large for me, some quick negotiations saw them attack the Chinese instead. Since Persia was "occupied" with China, I was no longer a target.

So the key idea here is: try to orchestrate all wars between all civs, not only the ones in which you take an active part.


Dominae