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I typically play huge map, marathon speed, 16 opponents, normal AI with no barbarians (I am a builder at heart.) So this was going to be a different set up for me. As I went along the game felt like it was going at a very fast pace. I also wasn't keeping notes as I went along so a lot of the details I have pulled from the replay.
I planned from the beginning to go for a Cultural victory. With the starting stone, World Wonders would hopefully play a significant part. The first three cities would be the cultural goals. Then I would need at least 9 total cities so each of the core 3 could have a "cathedral" for each religion. Music was going to be a key tech for cathedrals and the Sistine Chapel.
Goal 1 was of course survival. With barbarians and aggressive AI, I was being careful.
Athens went up in 4000BC. Defense and exploration went first along with trying to grab some wonders. Stonehenge came along in 2000BC and the Great Wall in 1720BC. Once I determined it was just me and England on a relatively small space it was land grab time: Sparta 1200BC, Corinth 725BC, Thebes 375BC, and Argos in 50BC. When England plopped down Canterbury 2 turns before I got to that area, I sent that final settler to found Knossos in 600AD on the Eastern most tip of the island on the peninsula. The plan was for Maori Statues to go there to eventually make it a good city. I eventually planted Mycenae in 1390AD on the SW corner of the island to bring me to 7 cities.
When the island was effectively full in the early ADs I switched to a two part approach. Building up those Wonders and preparing for the eventual war with England. Wonder history went as follows: Athens-Statue of Zeus 720 AD, Sparta-Great Lighthouse 740AD, Corith Shwedagon Paya 740AD, Sparta-Colossus 980AD, Corinth-Chichen Itza 980AD, Athens-National Epic 1510AD, Corinth-Sistine Chapel 1555AD, Corinth-Versailles 1720AD.
England never liked me much. I got very little chance to trade techs with him. Explorations was also therefore a goal. I was first to circumnavigate in 1530AD. Still nobody really liked me much so got very little chance to trade techs. Maybe I was just being a little paranoid. Most offers were poor, and as I was behind overall I didn't want to give away those areas in which I was ahead technologically for little return. Another problem I was facing in the Middle Ages was that no religions had been founded our the island. That would cause problems in trying to create those +50% culture cathedrals. I did grab Divine Right and Islam in 1525AD. It was founded in Thebes. I was saving a Great Prophet so the Masjid al-Haram went up in 1535AD.
Now the Cold War with England started heating up. I could see him building up and I was waiting for him to pounce. At this point my military tech was a bit behind so I started racing for Rifling. I built the best units I could and put up the Heroic Epic in Corinth in 1834AD. When the war with England happened I wanted to take the whole island. The only war I started was declaring war on the Zulu in 1645AD in an attempt to curry favor with Carthage. As soon as I declared Carthage made peace. Shaka did not have Astronomy so this "war" ended uneventfully in 1725AD.
The dam finally broke when England attacked me in 1755AD. I was only a few turns away from Rifling. I was able to repel the first huge onslaught against Thebes by shifting forces over and performing some upgrades. I was okay when the second push came. I started shifting from defense to offense. Production was just riflemen and trebuchets. York fell in 1832AD. Then Sumeria had to stick their nose into things declaring war on England in 1844AD. I captured London in 1850AD. Gilgamesh captured Nottingham on the Northern tip of the island in 1852AD. I then captured Hastings in 1856AD and finished off England by capturing Canterbury in 1872AD.
This war had one big benefit and one big failure. The big failure was now having a big Sumerian stack of cavalry, cannons and riflemen on the island. The big benefit (aside of course from controlling almost the entire island) was that Catherine had sent two missionaries to London shortly before the attack. There were Jews and Hindus in London. Things were looking up.
Pressure was present in many areas. It was just going to be a matter of time before more war visited me. I still needed to catch up on military research. I pushed on to Assmebly Line so I would have the solid land defense of Infantry. I was a bit behind on naval tech so anyone would be able to land at will. I needed to spread two religions to nine cities to get Jewish Synagogues, Hindu Mandirs, and Monastaries in the core 3 cities. I also wanted to push toward Combustion for Creatve Construction and Mass Media for Civilized Jewelers.
The long endgame began in 1905AD when Russia attacked me. It was a small landing so I was able to repel the invaders. I made peace with Catherine in 1910AD. Then Sumeria attacked in 1909AD. They pushed South and captured London in 1913AD. I recaptured London in 1918AD and pushed Gilgamesh off the island by capturing Nottingham in 1921AD. Meanwhile Sumeria vassalized Carthage in 1920AD so they joined the fray. War continued for the remainder of the game. Russia attacked me again from 1944-1956AD. The Dutch joined in between 1949-1953AD. Russia again from 2003-2009AD. The Zulu jumped on board from 2011AD. I stayed at war with Sumeria the whole time becasue they always insisted on London to make peace. I wasn't going to willingly let them back on the island.
After war began Wonders came as follows: Thebes- Creative Constructions 1943AD, Thebes- Wall Street 1956AD, Sparta- Hermitage 1963AD, London(they had the Great Library)-Oxford University 1965AD, Sparta- Globe Theatre 1975AD, Thebes- Civilized Jewelers 1988AD, Athens- United Nations 1999AD, Sparta- Hollywood 2010AD
Sumeria completed the Apollo program in 1977AD. They also bult the Manhatten Prohect in 1995AD. Sumeria was the big powerhouse. They could get the Space victory or if I lost one of my core three cities I was sunk. I had saved up three Great Artists for the final push. That way I would catch the AI by surprise with the victory so they couldn't make a final suicide push as I closed in on a cultural victory.
I popped one Great Artist in Corinth and 2 in Sparta in 2016AD. Victory came in 2017AD. Final tally Athens 54998, Corinth 51906, Sparta 50411.
I planned from the beginning to go for a Cultural victory. With the starting stone, World Wonders would hopefully play a significant part. The first three cities would be the cultural goals. Then I would need at least 9 total cities so each of the core 3 could have a "cathedral" for each religion. Music was going to be a key tech for cathedrals and the Sistine Chapel.
Goal 1 was of course survival. With barbarians and aggressive AI, I was being careful.
Athens went up in 4000BC. Defense and exploration went first along with trying to grab some wonders. Stonehenge came along in 2000BC and the Great Wall in 1720BC. Once I determined it was just me and England on a relatively small space it was land grab time: Sparta 1200BC, Corinth 725BC, Thebes 375BC, and Argos in 50BC. When England plopped down Canterbury 2 turns before I got to that area, I sent that final settler to found Knossos in 600AD on the Eastern most tip of the island on the peninsula. The plan was for Maori Statues to go there to eventually make it a good city. I eventually planted Mycenae in 1390AD on the SW corner of the island to bring me to 7 cities.
When the island was effectively full in the early ADs I switched to a two part approach. Building up those Wonders and preparing for the eventual war with England. Wonder history went as follows: Athens-Statue of Zeus 720 AD, Sparta-Great Lighthouse 740AD, Corith Shwedagon Paya 740AD, Sparta-Colossus 980AD, Corinth-Chichen Itza 980AD, Athens-National Epic 1510AD, Corinth-Sistine Chapel 1555AD, Corinth-Versailles 1720AD.
England never liked me much. I got very little chance to trade techs with him. Explorations was also therefore a goal. I was first to circumnavigate in 1530AD. Still nobody really liked me much so got very little chance to trade techs. Maybe I was just being a little paranoid. Most offers were poor, and as I was behind overall I didn't want to give away those areas in which I was ahead technologically for little return. Another problem I was facing in the Middle Ages was that no religions had been founded our the island. That would cause problems in trying to create those +50% culture cathedrals. I did grab Divine Right and Islam in 1525AD. It was founded in Thebes. I was saving a Great Prophet so the Masjid al-Haram went up in 1535AD.
Now the Cold War with England started heating up. I could see him building up and I was waiting for him to pounce. At this point my military tech was a bit behind so I started racing for Rifling. I built the best units I could and put up the Heroic Epic in Corinth in 1834AD. When the war with England happened I wanted to take the whole island. The only war I started was declaring war on the Zulu in 1645AD in an attempt to curry favor with Carthage. As soon as I declared Carthage made peace. Shaka did not have Astronomy so this "war" ended uneventfully in 1725AD.
The dam finally broke when England attacked me in 1755AD. I was only a few turns away from Rifling. I was able to repel the first huge onslaught against Thebes by shifting forces over and performing some upgrades. I was okay when the second push came. I started shifting from defense to offense. Production was just riflemen and trebuchets. York fell in 1832AD. Then Sumeria had to stick their nose into things declaring war on England in 1844AD. I captured London in 1850AD. Gilgamesh captured Nottingham on the Northern tip of the island in 1852AD. I then captured Hastings in 1856AD and finished off England by capturing Canterbury in 1872AD.
This war had one big benefit and one big failure. The big failure was now having a big Sumerian stack of cavalry, cannons and riflemen on the island. The big benefit (aside of course from controlling almost the entire island) was that Catherine had sent two missionaries to London shortly before the attack. There were Jews and Hindus in London. Things were looking up.
Pressure was present in many areas. It was just going to be a matter of time before more war visited me. I still needed to catch up on military research. I pushed on to Assmebly Line so I would have the solid land defense of Infantry. I was a bit behind on naval tech so anyone would be able to land at will. I needed to spread two religions to nine cities to get Jewish Synagogues, Hindu Mandirs, and Monastaries in the core 3 cities. I also wanted to push toward Combustion for Creatve Construction and Mass Media for Civilized Jewelers.
The long endgame began in 1905AD when Russia attacked me. It was a small landing so I was able to repel the invaders. I made peace with Catherine in 1910AD. Then Sumeria attacked in 1909AD. They pushed South and captured London in 1913AD. I recaptured London in 1918AD and pushed Gilgamesh off the island by capturing Nottingham in 1921AD. Meanwhile Sumeria vassalized Carthage in 1920AD so they joined the fray. War continued for the remainder of the game. Russia attacked me again from 1944-1956AD. The Dutch joined in between 1949-1953AD. Russia again from 2003-2009AD. The Zulu jumped on board from 2011AD. I stayed at war with Sumeria the whole time becasue they always insisted on London to make peace. I wasn't going to willingly let them back on the island.
After war began Wonders came as follows: Thebes- Creative Constructions 1943AD, Thebes- Wall Street 1956AD, Sparta- Hermitage 1963AD, London(they had the Great Library)-Oxford University 1965AD, Sparta- Globe Theatre 1975AD, Thebes- Civilized Jewelers 1988AD, Athens- United Nations 1999AD, Sparta- Hollywood 2010AD
Sumeria completed the Apollo program in 1977AD. They also bult the Manhatten Prohect in 1995AD. Sumeria was the big powerhouse. They could get the Space victory or if I lost one of my core three cities I was sunk. I had saved up three Great Artists for the final push. That way I would catch the AI by surprise with the victory so they couldn't make a final suicide push as I closed in on a cultural victory.
I popped one Great Artist in Corinth and 2 in Sparta in 2016AD. Victory came in 2017AD. Final tally Athens 54998, Corinth 51906, Sparta 50411.
and for games going forward - and the long term ranking system - we agree with you and others that have asked for this.
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