Give peace a chance

[Harovan]

I just visited a German civilization site and read through an amazing thread of a poster there, who played (and won!) a game on Emperor (standard, 8 civs) with the self-restriction, that he was not allowed to build any military unit, only settlers, workers and scouts (he played as Iroquois).

He played with 5 preselected, most peaceful civs and 2 random. Of course, Germany was among them. The player was able to manage peace till the late game and was then attacked by Bismarck. He lost 2 cities (without any defense), one of which flipped back culturally. The aggression was stopped by signing alliances.

The player won the game diplomatically. It must have been an amazing experience. Since the thread is completely in German, I won't post a link, though.

Has anyone of you played a similar game with the same restriction?

Theseus, what about adding such a challenge in the AU under the topic "Diplomacy", played with India?

[FrustratedPoet]

That sounds like an awesome game and would be a really interesting addition to the AU roster.

You probably should post a link Sir Ralph, there are certain to be a few German-speakers on these boards and they might want to check it out. It'd be useless for me, though.

[Harovan]

Ok, here it is.

[Arrian]

Not a SINGLE military unit??? Tell me he at least shut off the barbarians. Even then, that's really impressive. I'd be up for such a challenge, and India would be a great choice (France would be too) for an AU game.

I can't imagine having the willpower to watch an enemy stack approach one of your cities and NOT punch out a few units to defend it.

-Arrian

[Harovan]

Settings are: emperor, standard, 8 civs, archipelago 70%, normal, cool, 3 bill years. Nothing about barbarians, but he mentioned them a few times, so they were probably low, but not completely off. Ah yes, another thing he mentioned is, that he disbanded warriors from huts immediately with shift-D.

The game start can be downloaded here, although we probably would set up our own.

This pic he posted about the # of units during the war he "fought" :

[Arrian]

Wow, the more I think about this the more I appreciate how hard it must have been. Willpower aside, even. No military police units in the beginning... wow. Then again, it really does focus you on REX, I'd bet, along with seeking and hooking up luxuries. For that reason, I almost wanna say France would be the best for this - Industrious to fuel that rapid expansion/luxury hookup, not to mention getting solid production centers up quickly. Commercial will help with early corruption woes - I honestly think I saw a tangible difference in the game I just finished as Rome - and kick in some extra cash along the way. Plus, the whole concept kinda fits the French

I'd say emperor, standard, pangea, 70%, wet, cool, 3 billion, barbs to "sedimentary." AI opponents: India, Iroquois, China, Greece, America, Germany, Zululand.

-Arrian

Edit: Oh, dear, what have I done? "Sedimentary" seems to have stuck. *sigh*

[Harovan]

I thought a bit about it. France and India seem to be very hard, because they have no scouts. What shall we explore with, and open huts? Workers? That's damn dangerous.

Although it would be a good challenge for India or France, I think the civ should rather be expansionistic, as the German player has chosen.

[Theseus]

WOW!!

But... no Armies??

Just kidding... I feel like Arrian did, the sheer willpower NOT to smack around Bismarck is hard to imagine.

We shall definitely do this in AU.

Arrian, you askin' for trouble by playing pangaea? I agree that if it's wet, gotta be Industrious. France would work well...

For both India and France, what would trigger the GA? Looks like we're all gonna have to get awfully good at pre-building GWs.

[Arrian]

I dunno about that. As for huts... well, a non-expansionist tribe w/o any units should simply not open them. Exploring is more problematic, I'll grant you. That's an issue.

How about the Americans?

-Arrian

[Harovan]

The Americans as peacenicks?

I like the idea.

[Arrian]

Ah, crosspost w/Theseus.

I was thinking pangea so as not to have to worry about sailing the high seas in units we aren't allowed to build.

India is comm/rel and France is comm/ind. Therefore, off the top of my head:

India:
Colossus/Lighthouse
Colossus/Smith
Sistine/Smith
Bach/Smith

France:

Lighthouse/HG
Lighthouse/GW(?)
HG/Smith
GW(?)/Smith

America (Exp/Ind)

Colossus/HG
Colossus/GW(?)
Lighthouse/HG
Lighthouse/GW(?)

-Arrian

[Arrian]

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Sir Ralph
The Americans as peacenicks?

[Theseus]

Answer my own question:

France:
* Commercial: Colossus, Lighthouse, Magellan, Smith, Hoover, Manhattan Project
* Industrious: Pyramids, Great Wall, Hanging Gardens, UN

India:
* Commercial: Colossus, Lighthouse, Magellan, Smith, Hoover, Manhattan Project
* Religious: Pyramids, Colossus, Oracle, Sistine, Bach

I'm not sure if SW's work too, but if they do, Heroic Epic and the FP would also work (uhhh, limited choice there!!).

[Arrian]

SW's shouldn't work.

I'm kinda liking the idea of playing the Americans (would be the first time for me). Opponents would then be France, India, China, Iroquois, Greece, Germany, Zululand. Or are two mean, nasty, demanding men too much?

-Arrian

[alexman]

Wow! This peaceful AU course might be the best one for testing the effect of AI build preferences!

The human interference (read attack) will be minimal, so each AI will follow the consequences of its own build strategy. We could make two saves for the same map and starting locations. One with standard AI settings and one with modified ones. What do you think?