My best game yet!
Oct. 29th, 2009 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreCiv IV geek details: Fractal map, standard size world, temperate climate, standard sea level, Chieftain difficulty. I was playing the Indian Empire under Asoka. As it turned out the map generated with two largish continents. I shared my continent with the English (Victoria), the Spanish (Isabella), and the Russians (Peter the Great). The other continent had France (Louis XIV), Greece (Alexander), and the Mongolians (Genghis Kahn).
I like Asoka because his Spiritual attribute means no Anarchy when societal changes happen. My early game strategy involves building Stonehenge as early as possible. It is a good culture generator and creates an Obelisk in every existing a new city you build. This is key to early expansion. Then I build the Oracle for the free technology. Interspersed with this is the required workers, troops, and settlers to expand my nation. I got lucky when a couple of barbarian states had built up cities large enough for me to capture and hold. Instant population gains!
To give you an idea of the situation, picture a clock face. The English held a narrow strip of coast from 4 to 6. The Russians were at 10 to 12, the Spanish from 12 to 2. I held everything else. So when Peter declared war on Isabella I jumped right in and began grabbing cities. Peter was as weak as his Spanish foe, and dropped out early leaving me to develop gunpowder halfway through the war. Grenadiers and musketmen against chariots. Peter quickly asked me for a defensive pact. I gave it to him.
Time passes, and I begin planning for my end game. I'd been farming three cities as culture/great person generators. I was also way ahead of the curve in terms of technological advancement (I was building my rail network by 1550AD) so winning the space race was an option. One way I was getting this advances was by burning the Great People I was generating for tech help. In short order, my armies are modern infantry with artillery and armor support. Victoria had already lost two cities to me through cultural flips (the cultural influence of one state overwhelms a city close to the border, and they defect.) and was sick of her constant demands for me to stop trading with the Mongolians. The war started in 1832, and by 1837, the sun had set on the British Empire. That left one rival on my continent. By they time I had muster my forces, they were in M1A1 tanks and carrying automatic weapons. They also had air support. In 1863. By 1873, St. Petersburg fell and I was alone on my continent.
At this point, I had four potential wins lined up. India landed on the Moon in 1857, so I was well along on a Space Race win. Delhi, Bangalore, and Bombay were very close to Legendary Culture, and I could easily turn the culture slider to 11 and push them over the top for a Cultural Win. I had built the United Nations in 1863 and had such a dominant block of votes that I could have forced the question and won a Diplomatic Victory. But I had this big freaking army just sitting there...
The next largest surviving nation was the Mongolians, so I loaded my troops up, marshaled my fleet, and sailed for Old Sarai! Again, I had a technological edge that made victories almost easy. Artillery really is the king of battle; I had several battles where massed artillery eliminated the foe in short order. I didn't quite eliminate Genghis (he had one city on the far side of the continent, I was still consolidating gains before loading up for my next conquest) when my influence crossed the magic number for a Domination Win!
I become effective ruler of the planet as of 1916. Some other dates of note: the Three Gorges Dam opened in 1861, Rock & Roll debuted in 1862, and the Space Elevator took its first load to orbit in 1906. My final score was 13,168, and my leadership was rated as "Abraham Lincoln", which is the third highest in the game. A few more games like this one and I'll start playing at a higher difficulty level.
I like Asoka because his Spiritual attribute means no Anarchy when societal changes happen. My early game strategy involves building Stonehenge as early as possible. It is a good culture generator and creates an Obelisk in every existing a new city you build. This is key to early expansion. Then I build the Oracle for the free technology. Interspersed with this is the required workers, troops, and settlers to expand my nation. I got lucky when a couple of barbarian states had built up cities large enough for me to capture and hold. Instant population gains!
To give you an idea of the situation, picture a clock face. The English held a narrow strip of coast from 4 to 6. The Russians were at 10 to 12, the Spanish from 12 to 2. I held everything else. So when Peter declared war on Isabella I jumped right in and began grabbing cities. Peter was as weak as his Spanish foe, and dropped out early leaving me to develop gunpowder halfway through the war. Grenadiers and musketmen against chariots. Peter quickly asked me for a defensive pact. I gave it to him.
Time passes, and I begin planning for my end game. I'd been farming three cities as culture/great person generators. I was also way ahead of the curve in terms of technological advancement (I was building my rail network by 1550AD) so winning the space race was an option. One way I was getting this advances was by burning the Great People I was generating for tech help. In short order, my armies are modern infantry with artillery and armor support. Victoria had already lost two cities to me through cultural flips (the cultural influence of one state overwhelms a city close to the border, and they defect.) and was sick of her constant demands for me to stop trading with the Mongolians. The war started in 1832, and by 1837, the sun had set on the British Empire. That left one rival on my continent. By they time I had muster my forces, they were in M1A1 tanks and carrying automatic weapons. They also had air support. In 1863. By 1873, St. Petersburg fell and I was alone on my continent.
At this point, I had four potential wins lined up. India landed on the Moon in 1857, so I was well along on a Space Race win. Delhi, Bangalore, and Bombay were very close to Legendary Culture, and I could easily turn the culture slider to 11 and push them over the top for a Cultural Win. I had built the United Nations in 1863 and had such a dominant block of votes that I could have forced the question and won a Diplomatic Victory. But I had this big freaking army just sitting there...
The next largest surviving nation was the Mongolians, so I loaded my troops up, marshaled my fleet, and sailed for Old Sarai! Again, I had a technological edge that made victories almost easy. Artillery really is the king of battle; I had several battles where massed artillery eliminated the foe in short order. I didn't quite eliminate Genghis (he had one city on the far side of the continent, I was still consolidating gains before loading up for my next conquest) when my influence crossed the magic number for a Domination Win!
I become effective ruler of the planet as of 1916. Some other dates of note: the Three Gorges Dam opened in 1861, Rock & Roll debuted in 1862, and the Space Elevator took its first load to orbit in 1906. My final score was 13,168, and my leadership was rated as "Abraham Lincoln", which is the third highest in the game. A few more games like this one and I'll start playing at a higher difficulty level.
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no subject
Date: 30 Oct 2009 01:50 (UTC)no subject
Date: 30 Oct 2009 03:39 (UTC)no subject
Date: 30 Oct 2009 02:09 (UTC)1837
Heh.
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Date: 30 Oct 2009 02:40 (UTC)