Ultimate Power

[Arrian]

For a while now, I have been seeking what I've termed the "Game of Ultimate Power." I have been seeking it on Monarch level (and will continue to seek it elsewhere), Standard Maps, Continents, 8 civs. I began this thread to discuss the game which I decided finally fit my definition of "Ultimate Power."

First, allow me to explain what I mean by UP:

- A large, productive empire
- Huge leads in tech, money, military force
- Just about all the Wonders of the World, with the ones I deem "key" built or rushed myself (not captured)
- The capability to do whatever I wish wherever I wish

I wish to have these things achieved by the end of the middle ages.

Why do I seek this? It's a throwback to CivII, where I could pretty much do this 9 times out of 10 on Diety. CivIII, however, proved much more difficult. I was always a "builder" type of player who rarely fought until late in the game in CivII. When I did fight, most of my conquests were actually acquisitions (spies).

I discovered that CivIII, once you get up to Monarch, does not really allow one to dominate the game via "builder" methods. If you try, you will most likely get beaten to various wonders or get attacked because your military is neglected. After some frustration caused by trying to play the game as if it was CivII, I gave in to the Dark Side. I went warmonger, playing many games as Japan, and now several as China (sparked by Vel's Industrious thread and the general Industrious vs. Religious debate). I still prefer Religious, but it just so happens that the Game of Ultimate Power was Chinese.

Oh, what a difference. I cannot overstate the awesome power of early war - in particular, early war that generates Great Leaders. This is required for Ultimate Power above Regent level (probably above warlord, for that matter).

I decided to post about this particular game in this particular forum (strategy as opposed to stories or general) because I want to discuss the way this game unfolded from a strategic standpoint, and the regulars here can be counted on to do that.

I freely admit that my search for UP involved many searches for lovely starting spots, as I had no expectation of UP without one.

Without further ado, the starting spot:

[Sean]

Yes, it is one of the faults of Civ 111, it is geared towards a warmongering stlye. Of course it is important to have a military, but its taken to far in Civ 111. You should be able to have significant more success as a builder.

[Arrian]

Ok, so that's one helluva starting spot. I moved 1 tile before settling, not wanting to waste a game tile. The thing that made this game great, as opposed to good, was the settler. No strategy there, clearly.

I used the Chinese the way they were built to be used: archer attack on my neighbor, dear Lizzy of England. I took London in 1700BC and pressed the war (but not the attack) until I generated a great leader, built an archer army and won 1 battle with it. Then to peace, while I built the HE and researched toward Monarchy. England's tech helped with that 2nd goal.

The switch to Monarchy was key, as I never did switch again. Normally, when playing a non-religious civ, I will make the jump from despotism straight to republic. This time, I figured I'd stick with Monarchy because I had every intention of fighting near-constantly.

I built a horseman/swordsman force, as per my normal strategy, without the chariot upgrade gambit. Unfortunately, that was removed when I took HBR from England for peace. Perhaps a mistake. I unleashed my hordes on India, hoping for lots 'o leaders. And leaders I got.

Here is the mini map from 420AD, with some added info. By this time, I had:

- Colossus (built) 350 BC
- Hanging Gardens (built) 10AD
- forbidden palace (rushed) 330AD
- moved palace (rushed) 390AD

[Arrian]

The English are obviously crippled, and India is down to 3 cities. The Japanese were about to sneak attack me, and the French were sitting offshore looking worried.

Military screen from 420AD:

[Arrian]

Sure enough, when politely asked to leave my territory, my former allies the Japanese declared war on me. Jerks. Ok, then.

I did what damage I could with my horsemen, but eventually started running into pikes. Therefore, Riders were needed. So Riders I used. They went down hard, and my golden age allowed me to properly build up my empire.

Wonders as they came:

Sistine (rushed) 630 AD
Sun Tzu (built) 750 AD
Leos (rushed) 780 AD
Copernicus (built) - 1020 AD
Smith (rushed) - 1140 AD

Time to clean up:

[Arrian]

Now I'm rolling. I load my Riders/elite horsies onto ships, preparing to wipe the floor with Joan.

Three turns prior to invading, I investigate Paris, and what do I see? Producing: Musketeer. ACK!

I took Paris, but triggered a French GA, and had to sit tight in Paris for a good long while, fighting off musketeer attacks, while I researched to Military Tradition.

A screenshot from 1275, with the breakout from Paris proceeding:

[Arrian]

I had captured the Great Lighthouse from India, and had ventured far enough with a caravel to see a border over the western ocean, but chose not to make contact. I had no desire to speed the overseas AI's tech research.

I did get a cryptic message while doing my cleanup:

The Aztecs have been destroyed.

Ah, excellent, now there will be three.

So I finished off the French, and made contact. I discovered that the Americans had wiped out the Aztecs, but had done very little to consolidate their gains (typical) and the Iroquois were pretty much a joke.

So I played the Imperialist. I plunked down two cities in formerly Aztec territory in order to gain access to two luxuries (furs, silks). The Americans, of course, were displeased with my theft of their luxuries, and attacked with waves of Knights. I'm really sorry I didn't save the game upon my initial founding of these two outposts, as it would have made a much better screenshot than this one:

[Arrian]

The Iroquois (yellow) began filling in empty space, since I didn't want to win yet via domination, and left much of the continent empty as I butchered the Americans.

Then they did something silly. They built a city that took away 1 of New Beijing's silks. So I used my RoP agreement to ravage the Iroquois "empire."

Meanwhile, on the home front:

Newton (rushed) 1295 AD
Magellan (built) 1330 AD
Universal Suffrage (built) 1455 AD
ToE (rushed) 1455 AD
Hoover (rushed) 1475 AD
Pentagon (rushed) 1500 AD
Ironworks (rushed) 1525AD - in America

I ended up with 12 Great Leaders (army, FP, palace move, sistine, leo, bach, smith, newton, toe, hoover, pentagon, marketplace)

Finally, I left Hiawatha a little somethin':

[Arrian]

Backing up a bit...

My two outpost cities on the American continent succeeded not only in gaining two luxuries for me, but also in provoking Abe to attack me on my terms. Both cities had barracks and walls, and were being reinforced fairly steadily by my galleon fleet. Each had multiple musketmen defenders (3-4 of them), with Cavalry as well. Cannon were on their way as the attack began, and their absense was felt, as I lost several musketmen.

Abe threw an awful lot of knights at me, I estimate 20-25 of them. I was able to slaughter them with minimal losses, either on defense or counterattacking with Cavalry. I also used the Cavalry to destroy the closest American(Aztec) cities nearest my two cities so as to open up some space.

This left his empire terribly exposed to my eventual all-out assault with Cavalry and Riflemen, resulting very quickly in the total destruction of America.

The Iroquois' fate was sealed, with or without the RoP violation. It merely spead things up a bit.

At the end, I was killing barbarians with Mech Infantry while researching Space Flight. Silly me, however, I won via domination unintentionally... the Ironworks city expanded its borders. I just HAD to built that wonder, in a city that never produced more than 5 uncorrupted shields. But it wouldn't been in my character to pass up a wonder, great or small.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

So why was this game better than my other attempts?

Well, I had achieved similar technological, economic and military might vis-a-vis the AI before. There were two key differences in this one:

1) The fact that I stayed in Monarchy the whole way, and that it never slowed me down tech-wise. The most I ever waited for a tech after my Medieval Golden Age was over was 5 turns.

2) 12 Great Leaders. TWELVE.

Initially, I didn't want to switch governments because of the anarchy hit I'd take. But after a little while I realized my empire was efficient enough to never need republic or democracy. After all, I was getting the military police anti-unhappiness bonus, no war weariness, and a free armed forces in exchange for the loss of commerce. By the end of the game, the allowed free units number was well over 300, and I had 150 or so. As I was getting tech in 4 turns most of the time, with the occasional 5 turn, it made little sense to waste 5 turns in anarchy in order to switch governments.

As I said before, I still prefer Religious to Industrious (and thus the Japanese to the Chinese), but the fact is that the early archer attack, which the Chinese do a heckuva lot better, is extremely effective. It by no means prevents a later horseman rush, and can result in a very early Great Leader. A Great Leader in 1500bc can be invested in the Heroic Epic and one can then expect to reap the rewards when it counts (FP, medieval wonders).

When utilizing a horseman rush as the first attack (usually launched between 500 and 250 bc), I have other priorities for leaders. At that point, the #1 thing is a forbidden palace. Shortly thereafter, the Medieval wonders show up, and demand attention. Therefore, I rarely feel that investing a GL in an army for the HE in the hopes of more leaders later is worth it. By the time the HE's effect manifests itself, GLs are not as powerful as they were earlier in the game. This is, of course, a matter of opinion.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

For those interested, here is my last save, from 1685AD. I eventually won about a century later (1778?). Final score 5750. Not my highest, but close. Score, of course, has only a (very) indirect relation to Ultimate Power. It only takes into account territory and population (with happiness bonus, of course). It ignores many of the things that I consider crucial: tech lead, wealth, projection of power, control of resources/luxuries, etc.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Bah, screwed up post. See the next one.

[Arrian]

Here is a minimap with circles around the Palace and Forbidden Palace locations. The Palace is clearly not centered, which was deliberate. It's in Shanghai (Beijing directly to the north) because the city to its NE (with a small arrow draw toward it) has the Colossus. This remained useful for the majority of the game, so I chose to leave the Palace in Shanghai until I had flight, after which I moved it to the city with a square around it.

Despite the non-central location of the Palace, the overall placement of the Palace/FP allowed an awful lot of productive cities. This was the main factor in my ability to climb the tech tree quickly despite being in a commerce-impaired government.

[Arrian]

Here is a shot of my civ's economic data, circa 1685. Considering the size of my empire, and the system of government, I was more than happy with approximately 25% corruption:

[King of Rasslin]

Holy ****. That is probably the most dominating game I have ever seen! And you got 12 great leaders? That is unbelievable.

I never liked the archer because elite archers will die instead of retreat. I think elite horsemen would make better leader generators. I love the rider, but I prefer religious civs. Great game, I'm gonna start monarch when I finish my current game.