Spoiler Thread for AU 203

[Catt]

I'm far enough along in my game to read through the thread. I'm playing the AU Mod on PTW, Emperor level. I'll have screenshots and a full AAR later.

I expanded peacefully as far as the gems to the SW and just north of the furs to the SE. China slipped in a city at the crux of the upside-down-Y; i.e., due south of Berlin, north of both the gems and the furs. Rome (of all people!) archer rushed me, but I saw it coming, and Rome has been OCCing it since the beginning. Like others' games, China and to a lesser degree Persia are big, bad AI civs; Babylon is strong but isolated. I'm just into the Industrial Age, part of an alliance against China consisting of Germany, Persia, Russia, and England.

Coupla' questions: (1) Is there something a bit screwy with the AU mod? I couldn't build the FP until darn near reaching the OCN as modified for difficulty -- a standard map on Emperor should generate an FP build on city 7 - I think I had 10 or 11 cities before the FP was an option (and I thought the OCN changes were supposed to be for the AI only); and (2) what's up with the resources? not only is there a ton of luxuries, but the strategics inhabit every other tile -- I've got like 5 coal (2 coals in adjacent tiles) and 4 or 5 iron within my borders, and I am number 4 or 5 on the "land area" demographic stats (and have no jungle for the coal!).

Catt

[Dominae]

Originally posted by Catt
Coupla' questions: (1) Is there something a bit screwy with the AU mod? I couldn't build the FP until darn near reaching the OCN as modified for difficulty -- a standard map on Emperor should generate an FP build on city 7 - I think I had 10 or 11 cities before the FP was an option (and I thought the OCN changes were supposed to be for the AI only);

The new number of cities required for the FP is 12 on a standard map. alexman can give you the full explanation (it's also in the PTW AU mod thread), but the net effect is that the OCN affects only the AI for corruption purposes, but both AI and human for FP purposes. The reasoning was that this was not such a big deal, because players rarely build their FP until they have around 12 cities anyway. This is kinda debatable, I think.

Originally posted by Catt
and (2) what's up with the resources? not only is there a ton of luxuries, but the strategics inhabit every other tile -- I've got like 5 coal (2 coals in adjacent tiles) and 4 or 5 iron within my borders, and I am number 4 or 5 on the "land area" demographic stats (and have no jungle for the coal!).

I know BRC (the one who set up this scenario) tweaked the map to make the game more interesting, challenging, and easy in the early game (all at the same time!). So there are are lot of luxuries and strategic resources to help out until Communism arrives. I think he did a pretty good job (keep playing, there's even a surprise!).


Dominae

[Catt]

Originally posted by Catt
China slipped in a city at the crux of the upside-down-Y; i.e., due south of Berlin, north of both the gems and the furs.

After posting, I realized that the above statement wasn't terribly clear.

Below is a screenshot showing the world as know at appox. 200 AD. Germany succeeded at building the Great Library (by design) in +/- 500 BC and then, with a lucky leader, rushed Sun Tzu's rather than build an army. I overlooked the fact that rushing Sun Tzu's would trigger a golden age (d'oh!) but was in a decent position to capitalize on it nonetheless - Germany was already a Republic and could make peace quite easily if infrastructure was the desired GA output.

And yes . . . given the rules of this AU course, the Chinese cities in "my territory" are a real pain .

Catt

[BRC]

I know BRC (the one who set up this scenario) tweaked the map to make the game more interesting, challenging, and easy in the early game (all at the same time!). So there are are lot of luxuries and strategic resources to help out until Communism arrives. I think he did a pretty good job (keep playing, there's even a surprise!).

I was wondering if anyone had to deal with the "suprise".
Did it change anything for you Dom??

[Dominae]

Originally posted by BRC
I was wondering if anyone had to deal with the "suprise".
Did it change anything for you Dom??

Assuming we're talking about the same surprise, yes, it changed a lot. It made me think long and hard about my long-term strategy around the time when I was entertaining the idea of switching to Communism. This made the game all the more fun. Check out my AAR in a couple of days for the full story.

Catt, I'm sure that Chinese city will fall when the time is right (Communism beckons!).


Dominae

[Nor Me]

Originally posted by BRC
I was wondering if anyone had to deal with the "suprise".

I didn't. In this respect at least I was lucky.

[Konquest02]

I didn't too... The RNG has been kind with me... So I could proceed as expected: being crushed by an alliance of China, Russia, Babylon and Persia that is...

Communism in 1.29f really sucks. Once I switched to it, I immediately lost my tech lead and now China leads by 4-5 techs. I'm not generating enough income to trade for techs and I am not strong enough to beat someone for tech...

The end is near...

--Kon--

[Dominae]

We may not all be talking about the same "surprise" here: mine begins with 'o' and ends with 'l' (I hope this doesn't ruin it for everyone, but this is the spoiler thread after all).




Dominae

[BRC]

We may not all be talking about the same "surprise" here: mine begins with 'o' and ends with 'l' (I hope this doesn't ruin it for everyone, but this is the spoiler thread after all).

"i" thought that this was the only suprise. Are there others??

[Nor Me]

Originally posted by Dominae
We may not all be talking about the same "surprise" here: mine begins with 'o' and ends with 'l' (I hope this doesn't ruin it for everyone, but this is the spoiler thread after all).

We are. I only know because Bluefrog mentioned it on page 3. Remember I had a considerable tech lag.

[trickey]

Persia is super aggressive in my game. They have declared war on me 3 times in the last 50 years or so.
Twice within 10 trurns

Anyway, they were able to capture one of my cities, but it flipped back.

Then Persia declared war on me again. But this time old Xerses realized Immortals and Knights don't do to well vs. Cavalry and Riflemen

[jshelr]

In my version of this game, china cleared out england and left some oil sitting there for the taking. we sailed over and planted the flag. I've been doing everything but shine mao's shoes since 3000bc and he appears content to let me keep my oil.

meantime, it's persia and babs against china and germany (in golden age) in a huge modern era war. we are staying in democracy until the golden age is over. we are number one gnp and headed for a research lead. every turn we use arty to redline a fresh stack of persian tanks. must have had 50 elite victories without exaggeration. no leaders

[Konquest02]

I'll be clearer... 3 "surprises" appeared in my territory in the last 100 years or so... Sorry BRC... I'm still being crushed though. The panzer's blitz ability gives a lot of elites, but I had only one leader, out of 50-60 elite victories. Don't despair jshelr, there's still hope!

--Kon--

[ducki]

Man, all this bad leader luck, I sure am glad I got one in the Middle Ages.

[Chemical Ollie]

My second game was lost as well. I think I have to focus more on building a preventive military force than expanding at fastest possible speed. My golden age did not help me much when I had 10 riders inside my borders, only 1-2 defenders per city, my only saltpeter pillaged and all knights killed.

A third game on the same map would not be that funny, now that I know the terrain and neighburs. Instead I'm playing another game on a huge map as the Americans. Got a golden age triggered by ToE, which helped me build Hoover and regain initiative in a bitter 3-front war I was struggling to control. Railroads+factories+Hoover+Golden Age+mobilization=