PBEM *Spoiler*, Akots vs. Justus II

[Justus II]

This is my Spoiler reporting thread for my upcoming game vs. Akots. This will be my first 'standard' PBEM, I've only played in two Conquest-based PBEMs before. Knowing Akots is a good player, with plenty of PBEM experience, I expect a real challenge!

Game Information
We've decided on a Small map, with 2 continents, and 4 AI civs (2 on each of our continents), at Demi-God difficulty. I chose to play as the Netherlands, since I haven't played them, and I think they have a good trait combination for a continents-type map. Akots chose Rome, which should be an intersting matchup.

Here's the link to our pre-game discussion thread:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=2066

We will be using RB Civ rules, with a few exceptions noted (Ship chaining is allowed, as is scroll-ahead for new techs). We are also using the MSDG rules to regulate PBEM exploits.

Edit:
Here are the links to the rules:
Realms Beyond Civilization
http://www.realmsbeyond.net/civ/erules.html

MSDG
http://www.cdgroup.org/forums/site/m...topic.php?t=49

[Beam]

Interesting you play with such a ruleset, could you post links to them? TIA!

[Justus II]

And we are underway! Big thanks to Beam for making the map! Here's my start:



39.07KB

Decisions, decisions. Do I settle on the spot (my normal preference)? Move S to the coast (hoping/betting it's saltwater, since I'm seafaring)? OR, maybe I move north-east, so I can squeeze 1-2 1st-ring coastal cities in, and hopefully be a little more centrally located. Also a better chance of finding any food bonus that might be around. I see 3 BGs, and the lux, right off the bat. Moving S would give up one BG, and pick up some sea (less shields) but it looks like there's several forest around. Well, either choice, the first tile I'll work will be the BG to the SE of the start, so I move the worker there to push back some more fog. Nothing special, another BG that can be worked from any of the 3 sites, and another forest. I finally settle on moving S to the coast, because I want to get some early curraghs out to get a feel for my starting continent.

My initial plan was to settle, get at least one exploring and one or 2 curraghs out, then build a granary (probably helped with a forest chop on the silks), before I start my expansion. No barbs to worry about, so I'm definitely going for a Farmer's gambit. But if I can find any kind of food bonus, I'll probably change and build a settler before the granary, to set up a second city as my settler factory.

Research will be on Writing first, one of the reasons I chose Dutch, so I could go full-speed for Philo while still having Pottery to start. Looking at the AI civs, England also has a shot at it (and I certainly expect Akots to go after it), so it will probably take max science (and a little luck) to get it first, but I certainly am going to try!

[Justus II]

You win some, you lose some…

Well, I chose the coastal start, to take advantage of my Seafaring abilities and get Curraghs out contacting. Was it the right choice? It didn’t look so hot by turn 8 or so, as my exploring warrior headed north to reveal a plump, juicy Cow (on a BG!), just outside my radius, that I would have had if I’d settled on the spot. Oh well, hopefully the early curraghs can make up for it. Based on that, I built the warrior, 2 Curraghs (one to go south, one east), and then went for a settler first before granary. It might work out for the best, if I can still set up a settler factory at city #2 (it looks like I can, the cattle + AGR bonus =+5 fpt), and let the capital take on military production and/or a run at an early wonder – Lighthouse, maybe? But we have a ways to go before we hit that crossroads.

My warrior made first contact in 3300, meeting a warrior from Japan to our north:

82.93KB

It later appears they are to our northwest. They are up Bronze, Wheel, and C.Burial, while down Alphabet and Pottery. Since two of the remaining AI civs (England, Carthage) start with Alphabet, I figure that’s the safest one to trade away, and I get Bronze +7g. I hold Pottery back until I can meet our other neighbor.

That happens 4 turns later, in 3100, as our first Curragh earns his keep:

66.73KB

Hannibal is up Masonry, but has the same techs I do. It seems like there should be a brokering opportunity here, but with no spare cash (no barb huts, no one has any extra gold), it’s hard to come up with something worth while. I could get Burial from Japan for Pottery and a deficit, but that still wouldn’t be enough to get Masonry, and I don’t need any of these techs enough to slow down my research on Writing. IF I get writing first, I should be able to trade for some of the others. I am curious about that other land mass to the SE in that picture, that’s where my curragh will head next. It’s too close to be the other continent, based on our original map request, but it looks big for an island? A couple turns later, it’s starting to look like an island, or a peninsula, but does it connect to the other continent?

Akots and I got 20 turns in our first session (very good pace), so we called it a night, just as my first settler got into position. here’s my situation the following morning, after settling Rotterdam:


114.23KB

My plan is to build a quick warrior at Rotterdam for MP/Garrison, while my original garrison returns to the capital. Empty cities are just too much of a red flag for the AI, especially an aggressive one like Japan! Rotterdam will build a granary next, Amsterdam’s already started one. The worker is moving to irrigate the cow, so I can get started on a settler factory, while the capital will pump out a worker or two (after the granary) and then go for a barracks. I’ve shown my tentative dot-map, of where I want to place my next several cities. The Red dot 2W of Amsterdam is much closer than I would normally like, but it’s the best way I could originally see to stay on the river, and get irrigation over the hills to those desert tiles. Now that my Warrior has topped the mountain, I see a river off the west edge of this map, so I may settle on the orange dot instead. I’m glad to see a second lux (incense) to the north.

Research seems on track, Writing just dropped with settling the 2nd city, and with growth I should be able to drop another couple of turns, so I’m expecting it shortly after turn 30. Since Carthage had Bronze and Pottery, in addition to their starting techs, (and doesn’t appear to have contacted Japan yet), it seems they didn’t go for Writing immediately. And with no huts, and knowing none of the AI have Pottery as a starting tech, Akots may have decided to research it himself. That still leaves England, and possibly Akots if he went straight for Writing, but I think I’m still in pretty good shape to get Philo first.

[Socrates]

Very nice spoiler, Justus II !! Keep it coming, I enjoy reading tales which are well explained.

I think your priorities currently lie in your north-west : the spot with sugar, game and cow, and the spot with incense. Too bad they're so far away, but it will pay off later. You must be quick to settle now, because your settler factory is delayed. I'm confident in your RBCiv's experience to master the AIs at least. akots is another story. BTW, you should have no problem getting Philosophy first with your agricultural trait. What are you plans after that ?

[Beam]

quote:juicy Cow (on a BG!)

It also is next to a river. What a coincidence.

[Justus II]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov


I think your priorities currently lie in your north-west : the spot with sugar, game and cow, and the spot with incense. Too bad they're so far away, but it will pay off later. You must be quick to settle now, because your settler factory is delayed. I'm confident in your RBCiv's experience to master the AIs at least. akots is another story. BTW, you should have no problem getting Philosophy first with your agricultural trait. What are you plans after that ?

Agreed, I need to settle west quick. With Carthage to the distant south, I should be able to wall Japan off if I can get the next 2 settlers out quick enough (I may even do another from Amsterdam after the granary), then settle my eastern backyard in a more orderly fashion.

As for tech, my current plan is to use Philo to grab Code, then research Republic ASAP. I would hope between those 2, I can trade for the remaining early techs. After that, depending on what's still available, I would expect to research either Currency or Lit, as those are the ones the AI is least likely to get for me. With only 2 neighbors (unless/until I can get a suicide ship across), I'll probably do a lot of my own research in the Middle Ages.

I'd like to get a decent stack of warriors ready by the time I get Iron Working, as a short war to trim Japan before they get Chivalry would probably be a good idea. (Of course, that assumes we have iron).

quote:It also is next to a river. What a coincidence.

Yes, I was afraid I'd miss out by moving south. One of the reasons I thought about settling on the spot, or moving north, was that I'd be more likely to find a food bonus. But, to really get the most out of my curraghs, I wanted to get them out early scouting for me and making contacts. We'll see if it was worth missing the cow for a few turns!

[Justus II]

We've progressed another 15 turns in our game, and I was able to reach Writing ahead of my neighbors. I don't know about the other continent yet, but Akots mentioned he is at war with one of his AI, so hopefully that will slow his development.

I debated hoarding Writing for a while, to give myself a head-start on Philo, but finally decided to trade it right away, for three reasons. One, I could get Iron Working and Wheel (among other techs) so I'd know where the resources are in planning my settling. Two, I still have almost no military, and I'd have little choice but to give it away if it was demanded, so the longer I held it, the more risk I would take. Three, Japan was willing to offer 3 techs for it, while Carthage would barely offer two (even at monopoly), so they were probably researching it themselves. So, I decided to get what I could out of it. Japan offered the most, and I got Iron Working, Warrior Code, Ceremonial Burial and 13g. Then I was barely able to get The Wheel from Carthage, I had to chip in 18g+1gpt, without the Monopoly bonus.

The good news is we have both Iron and Horses nearby. I was concerned about the horses, actually, as I didn't see any, but after checking, Rotterdam is settled right on top of them! And Iron is nearby, and on the protected NE side of the capital. So, my expansion should go on as planned. Amsterdam finished the Granary, built a quick worker, and will pump out a quick settler to grab the dot due W (by the Oasis), before switching to a barracks and military. Carthage has settled about 5 tiles south, and theres a green border peeking out from the fog near the FP to the SW, so I want to settle something in that direction ASAP. Rotterdam has nearly completed it's granary, and will then switch to settlers, starting with the Cow hill. After that, I should be able to settle north and northeast in a more orderly fashion.


110.94KB

The land mass to the south was indeed an island, and after scouting the edges, I let the curragh take a shot into the deep blue, but it didn't survive. The other is still mapping the back side of our continent.

I hope to reduce the time on Philo once Rotterdam is connected to the Silks. Looking at the research choices the AI have, it would be quite unlikely that they'd go for Philo before any of the others, Map Making is much higher rated. And I don't think they can research that AND Philo before I get there, so I'm still confident.

[Justus II]

I was very excited to get the 1830BC turn, and see that Carthage had researched Map Making! I was still one turn away from Philo, but since he had chosen that (and Japan had recently completed Horseback Riding), my sale of Writing didn't seem to have hurt. However, next turn (1790 BC), I discovered Philosophy, but no free tech!

Neither of my neighbors had it, so either Akots beat me after all (possible, since he settled on the spot, so he'd have better growth with the cow in the capital) or England went for it. Either way, I couldn't have influenced their choices, and I'm not sure I could have gotten there any faster than I did, once I chose to move to the coast. It will be interesting to see after the game if Akots did beat me, and by how much, and how much of that was due to settling in range of the cow.

Regardless, I'm still going Code>Republic. I traded Philo to Japan for Map-Making, then to Carthage for Masonry (I had to kick in 1g). Japan still has a monopoly on HBR, and I wouldn't be building any of those soon anyway, so they can wait. I'm also down Mysticism. I've been able to settle my first two new city locations, and Rotterdam should be kicking out another in a couple turns to grab the Incense, which will help my science rate. Amsterdam is nearly finished with the Barracks, and will start cranking out warriors and the occasional settler.


122.01KB

[Justus II]

An update, as I discovered Code of Laws in 1350BC. I'm researching Republic at max, 28 turns with a slight deficit, but hopefully it will continue to drop as more cities are settled. I was able to pick up Horseback, Math, and Mysticism from the AIs for Code. I am only down Polytheism for the AI's on my continent.

Thus far, I've succesfully blocked the AI from settling north of me, and Rotterdam is a pretty reliable 4-turn settler factory, so I hope to fill in the north quickly. Amsterdam is focusing on military, with an occasional settler as it gets to size 6. My plan now is to get a couple more barracks up, then start building up a decent stack of horsemen to grab some cities from Japan. I especially want the ivory source just west of Arnhem. The 3rd luxury would be just in time for Republic!


133.05KB