Spoiler Thread for AU 203

[jshelr]

There is a wonderful little program that tells you precisely how close you are to both the population requirement and the land plus coastal squares requirement for domination. I usually post a question about where it is and wait for Aeson to tell me since he is apparently the only one who ever remembers.

[Dominae]

Originally posted by jshelr
There is a wonderful little program that tells you precisely how close you are to both the population requirement and the land plus coastal squares requirement for domination.

Thanks for the info, but I'll pass. I know too much about the game mechanics already.


Dominae

[ducki]

I still haven't even gotten to Communism.
I've gotten to the drudgery part, everyone's pissed at me, noone will trade me any of the tech to get me to Industrialisation and I'm falling further behind with every turn.
Gah.

[Catt]

Well, I'm falling into the habit of reporting my AAR's piecemeal again, but I still have a lot of game left if I play it out to the end.

China - the big bad civ in my game, like others' - attacked me with Cavalry just before I entered the Industrial Ages and got (hopefully) Nationalism and the resulting riflemen. I organized a broad coalition against China (paying through the teeth) just to survivie without losses -- although this isn't an elimination game obviously, I dreaded the thought of losing a city which I then couldn't take back. With the discovery of Replaceable Parts, I felt pretty secure from Chinese aggression, particularly with a nice Russian and Persian buffer between my southwest outpost and the Chinese land forces .

The German Republic, despite being several techs behind and falling back further while managing only a 8 - 10 turn research rate, built ToE and then Hoover. Despite pre-builds (the OCN change made using the Palace as a pre-build very dicey and largely ineffective), I didn't actually finish Hoover before Babylon started building it also, and I never traded Atomic Theory or Electronics -- Babylon was a tech powerhouse. I missed Longevity out of concern for ToE and I think that was a mistake -- don't get me wrong, ToE was critical, but I underestimated the power of Longevity given that I would be playing out the game in Communism.

Upon the discovery of Refining, I learned the bad news (not wholly unexpected ). I traded for oil from Babylon just before Combustion, and in the meantime built up a fleet of Galleons and a few frigates. With Combustion came upgrades to Transports. On my march towards Motorized Transportation, virtually all cities focused on infantry and artillery but I was woefully behind on an invasion-strength force, and focused on infantry over artillery.

Originally posted by BRC
I was wondering if anyone made an assault on this with Infantry and Artillery, so that they could build Panzers by the time they had Motorized Transportation.

My plan was slightly different -- to research MT, go Communist, invade Babylon's Resource Island, take and hold it with infantry while a harbor was built (if necessary), and then secure the island with panzers while focusing my war effort on my homeland. I didn't have any idea what my tech rate would be under communism, and I wasn't willing to launch my infantry invasion only to find that panzer support was 25 turns away.

Babylon, at this time, was the tech leader by a mile -- they were a peaceloving democracy with multiple size 25+ cities, and had already entered the Modern Age. China had once again declared war on me just a few turns before, and I elected to leave most of my meager artillery force at home (10 of 14 arty's) as homeland defense. An MPP with Russia and an alliance with Persia kept the Chinese dogs at bay while I concentrated on Babylon's island. As Germany emerged from anarchy into communism, 4 transports carrying 28 infantry and only 4 artillery prepared to invade Resource Island from the west. On that very turn, just before my anarchy subsided and I was ready to declare war, I got the pop up that the Babs were building SETI! Ouch! I hoped that they hadn't upgraded too many infantry into mechs, and worried about taking Resource Island. Nonetheless, German forces invaded, landing on the westernmost tip of Resource Island, prepared to battle the visible Mech Infantries guarding Babylonian cities.

My forces succeeded in taking the Babylonian city with fewer losses than anticipated, and fortified both in the city and in the three surrounding tiles. The counterattacking forces, consisting mostly of infantry, a few mechs, cavalry and some guerillas (with the odd bowman thrown in), largely bounced off my wall of infantry fortified around my new prize. The harbor had been destroyed in the attack, and reconstruction would take 7 turns. German transports sailed back for reinforcements. My tech rate for Radio and Flight under communism, without deficit spending but with 70% research or so was +/-20 turns! Ouch!

Within 2 turns I felt the weight of an angry, large, and modern Babylonian military. Swarms of 15 - 20 bombers and fighters strafed my positions (helpfully bringng the conquered city down to 1 citizen -- it could only support 2 anyway, so I wasn't losing much in the way of shield production and couldn;t rush-build a harbor in any event given the city size). At least 6 distinct "transport with escort" groups could be seen ferrying troops to Resource Island, most of them full, but too often with a few MIs, a few infantry and several cavalry.

We were holding our own, but the Babylonians controlled both the air and the sea. I foolishly sent 3 destroyers east in the hopes of cutting off the escorted transport teams - forgetting that I was playing the AU mod. A few bombing runs and several cruise missles sank 2 destroyers before the could even engage - the third limped back to port but was sunk by a Babylonian submarine. The German trasport fleet made several "suicide" runs - embarking fully laden from a German port but exhausting movement points one tile short of the outpost on Resource Island. Troops could unload, but the transports themselves were then at the mercy of unseen submarines and Battleships moving in for the kill.

On the turn that a harbor was built on Resource Island, every city in the realm switched production to panzers. The harbor was destroyed in airstrikes on the next turn, but the interval was long enough to churn out (eventually) 13 or 14 panzers. The cycle repeated itself once more 7 turns later; in the meantime, the German forces on Resource Island held their own defensive positions while a strike force of 6 infantry took up positions in the mountains within panzer range from the next target. Ultimately, the panzers turned the tide and secured Resource Island, but only after a huge investment of shields, time, and effort. Even now (I am in the Modern Age) Resource Island is the subject of continual Babylonian landings -- our new air force has stemmed the bombing runs (several of our fighters are confirmed aces), and we are slowly reaching balance on the seas.

Our righteous actions have forced the Babylonians into a communist governement, but they are miles ahead technologically - they have built 2 tactical nukes (but not used any) -- Germany has just completed research on Ecology (22 turns) after wasting 4 research turns pursuing Computers -- Bismarck initially coveted MIs and a shot at the Internet, but then came to his senses -- upgrading the 16 attack panzers for 24 attack MA seems the right thing to do .

On the homefront, the Persians, after signing an MPP with Babylon, went to war with both Russia and Germany. Russia has been decimated and controls only a narrow strip of land from Moscow to the jungles to the west. Germany made peace with Persia rather than fight a two front war - Persia's time is coming, though. With Resource Island relatively secure, needing only the occassional replensihment of panzers and a few infantry, the German war machine turned on China. With surprising ease our panzer forces cut swiftly though lightly defended cities the Chinese had captured from the English, Russians and Persians. In the space of approximately 10 turns we Germans secured the former English lands west to Rome and east to the chokepoint south of Beijing. An additional 10 - 15 turns secured Shanghai (and Smith's & Newton's), Beijing (and the Pyramids, Copernicus', and the Hanging Gardens), a coastal city (and Magellan's) and just recently Tatung (and Sistine). The Chinese offensive will continue until a chokepoint to the west that once devided the Chinese and Aztec empires (the Aztecs having lkong since been eliminated).

Leaders have come fast and furious (I've rushed 3 battleships, a university, a few factories, a cathedral, etc.) and now with the Chinese conquest Germany enjoys free granaries and barracks throughout the land, maintenance-free markets, banks, stock exchanges, harbors and airports (haven't built a commercial dock yet), the contentedness-makers Sistine and Bach's (Bach's having been natively built), and the fastest navy in the world. Only the prosperous and powerful Babylonians and the technologically equal Persians present any sort of threat. The "balanced role-player" in me covets the Internet, but I will stick to the plan and get MA. I would say the game is over but for the winning, but the nuclear advantage of Babylon makes that call a bit early. We shall see.

Catt

[Dominae]

Wow, exciting game Catt! I'm sure glad I didn't even attempt to grab Resource Island from the Babs (even though I managed to be the tech leader in my game). The Harbor/Panzer cycle is a humbling example in persistency; I would have given up within the first few rounds.


Dominae

[alexman]

You guys are too fast for me!!!

I stayed away from this thread until I finally got to the good part. It's 1505 A.D. Persia just declared war (they wanted Motorized Transportation, yeah, right) as I was building up my Panzer armies to conquer them, so I just switched to Communism to take a few cities to calm them down. But more about my game later. First, let me make a few general comments based on the other games here.

NorMe experienced a freak game! The only reason why an AI would research Chemistry before Banking would be to avoid getting Education for the Great Library. Perhaps the tech leader among the AIs had the GL, so he chose the lower branch of the tree to avoid Education. If he finished his research before the other civs had to make their research choice, then the tech that the first civ researched becomes cheaper, and thus can be completed in fewer turns than Education, giving it a higher value. (Remember that each tech has a base value which is inversely proportional to theSo the other civs follow the GL civ on the lower branch. It could happen, but only if the AI that has the GL is programmed to avoid the tech that makes that Wonder obsolete. If that is the case, thumbs up to Soren.

As NorMe pointed out, the difference between Monarchy and Despotism in the AU mod was not great enough. I guess I overestimated the effect of the Despotism tile penalty. I still don't think the corruption reduction for Communism is unbalancing though. More about this when I finish my game.

The 50% increase in OCN did not make the Chinese get a domination victory, but at least they came close. I suspect that on smaller maps the AI will often be a domination threat, because the ratio of the optimal number of cities to the total number of tiles in the map goes down as the maps get larger.

Catt, I see now why the increased OCN was a problem for you. You use a 4-tile spacing between your cities in many cases. I increased my spacing for this game because I didn't want to have crippling corruption in Communism, but not to the level of your game. I'll say this again: I really like the increased OCN, not only because it enourages the AI to get more land, but because the FP delay increases the chance that the AI might actually place it somewhere other than right next to its capital. Also, the human can't take advantage of prebuilds and Palace jumps as soon, which also helps the AI.

laissez-faire, the reason for not giving settlers the airlift flag is twofold. First, each settler represents about 10,000 people. Second, it is an unnecessary change to the game. Settler micromanagement is rarely an issue.

The map is definitely the #1 reason for AI greatness. Now if we can get Firaxis to ship BRC with the standard PTW editor You did a great job setting up the game, BRC.

[ducki]

Originally posted by alexman
NorMe experienced a freak game!

Not entirely...

The only reason why an AI would research Chemistry before Banking would be to avoid getting Education for the Great Library. Perhaps the tech leader among the AIs had the GL, so he chose the lower branch of the tree to avoid Education. If he finished his research before the other civs had to make their research choice, then the tech that the first civ researched becomes cheaper, and thus can be completed in fewer turns than Education, giving it a higher value. (Remember that each tech has a base value which is inversely proportional to theSo the other civs follow the GL civ on the lower branch. It could happen, but only if the AI that has the GL is programmed to avoid the tech that makes that Wonder obsolete. If that is the case, thumbs up to Soren.

If you saw one of my posts, I did a lot of work to ensure that Rome and England(and Azteca) stayed in the game - albeit mostly so I wouldn't be the most attractive target - including giving away tech, luxuries, resources, etc. for free when necessary.

One of the things I did was to ensure that everyone had the techs that led toward Mil. Trad. as soon as I got them, even at the risk of Leo's.
I had the GLib, so I wanted to postpone Education, and while it worked a little, if I had it to do over again, I'd try to maintain my lead on the Mil. Trad. branch instead of giving it away.

However, it is possible to push the AI down Mil. Trad. fairly easily...I just wouldn't advise it in a game like this, where a tech lead can disappear faster than you can build a Temple in the Middle Ages.

[ducki]

Oh, yeah, and a definite nod to BRC and Dominae.

Dom for conceiving this evil plot.
Never before have I waited with baited breath to get to Industrialization for... Nationalism??? And Communism???

And BRC for the great map, even though I'm still working on Theory of Gravity and Magnetism. The upside-down Y you started us on was a huge stress-factor until I got my borders all locked up and filled the chokepoints as best I could - the goody settler on the SouthWest leg was essential for me.

Originally, I looked at all those luxuries and thought "WTF is this? What a cakewalk!"
Boy was I shocked. I almost wish I'd played Regent. Almost.

[Catt]

Originally posted by Dominae
Wow, exciting game Catt! I'm sure glad I didn't even attempt to grab Resource Island from the Babs (even though I managed to be the tech leader in my game). The Harbor/Panzer cycle is a humbling example in persistency; I would have given up within the first few rounds.

It was kinda dull until then - but, yes, got pretty exciting with the switch to Communism.

I'm impressed that you were the tech leader! With my expansion stymied just south of the fork and no opportunity to gain more land via conquest, I just didn't have the population to compete. I prioritized libraries and universities, but still began to drop back after my Great Library became passe with Education (even with a bunch of university pre-builds going). Limited land combined with Babylon in relative peace, as a Democracy, did me in. Even before the switch to Communism, I was losing ground quickly. I think missing Smith's was a blow, as was a delay in acquiring banks. The upkeep definitely bit into my research budget.

Originally posted by alexman
Catt, I see now why the increased OCN was a problem for you. You use a 4-tile spacing between your cities in many cases. I increased my spacing for this game because I didn't want to have crippling corruption in Communism, but not to the level of your game. I'll say this again: I really like the increased OCN, not only because it enourages the AI to get more land, but because the FP delay increases the chance that the AI might actually place it somewhere other than right next to its capital. Also, the human can't take advantage of prebuilds and Palace jumps as soon, which also helps the AI.

It wasn't so much a problem as a surprise. I'd suggest that the next version of the ReadMe move the OCN increase from under the sub-heading "Changes to AI" -- although it mildly affected my early gameplan, no real problem. I missed a big chunk of the discussion on the Mod recently, and so wasn't up to speed.

I will say I'm not yet convinced of the benefit of the change, but haven't formed an opinion yet. I kind of like having the Palace pre-build being defanged (I could build my Palace more quickly than the Military Academy). Didn't we conclude (with Soren's input) that an increased OCN doesn't encourage more aggressive civs and in fact may encourage mor passivity -- that it just encourages keeping cities rather than razing after the OCN is reached?

Re: corruption -- a good discussion will be needed on the present incarnation of Communism after AU 203 -- Dominae and I were comparing stories in another thread (the one about rush building) and, I think both our views are the same -- that Communism is way better now (I think it may be too advantageous for the human, believe it or not). I want to play out the game and reflect before reporting back, but corruption is the absolute least of my worries in AU 203 so far.

Catt

[Nor Me]

Originally posted by alexman
NorMe experienced a freak game! The only reason why an AI would research Chemistry before Banking would be to avoid getting Education for the Great Library. Perhaps the tech leader among the AIs had the GL, so he chose the lower branch of the tree to avoid Education. If he finished his research before the other civs had to make their research choice, then the tech that the first civ researched becomes cheaper, and thus can be completed in fewer turns than Education, giving it a higher value. (Remember that each tech has a base value which is inversely proportional to theSo the other civs follow the GL civ on the lower branch. It could happen, but only if the AI that has the GL is programmed to avoid the tech that makes that Wonder obsolete. If that is the case, thumbs up to Soren.

I thought this was the case. If it was then the Oracle would have been the wonder concerned.
The trouble is that I tested it and could find no such effect.

I made the archer the same as the spearman, moved everything else from the starting techs and made a scenario where a civ had a wonder that went obsolete with warrior code. When I played that civ, the science advisor would suggest warrior code instead of the apparently identical bronze working. Even as a different civ on debug mode, they would start building an archer after the appropiate time had elapsed.

So I now don't think this was the cause.

[Catt]

Originally posted by alexman
Catt, I see now why the increased OCN was a problem for you. You use a 4-tile spacing between your cities in many cases. I increased my spacing for this game because I didn't want to have crippling corruption in Communism, but not to the level of your game.

Originally posted by alexman in another thread
Sorry for continuing off-topic, but Catt, as I said in the spoiler thread, I am amazed to see your really high city spacing. You have relatively few cities for the land area of your empire. Those are the conditions where the communal corruption model shines. In my game, I immediately started razing cities instead of keeping them because I wanted to still be able to produce a 100-shield Panzer in two turns in my core (and because I have not been building happiness improvements, so my clulture is bad, but that's another issue).

[BTW the OCN change in the AU mod does not affect corruption. The only effect is to the # of cities you need to build your FP].

So now I'm confused. I did usually space my cities 3 tiles apart, sometimes 4 tiles (for clarity, a unit with one movement point, moving on roads, could often move from city to city or just one tile short of the next city). Is that high city-spacing? And, you increased your spacing, but not to my level (so were you packing them really tight then)?

I don't know if it is simply the reduction in corruption for Communism under the AU Mod, or whether something inadvertant has happened with the OCN changes, or whether I'm just confused because I almost never go communist. But I am pretty sure that I am up to about 30 - 35 cities or so, and corruption is a nuisance at best. Unless I'm mistaken, wouldn't 30 cities under an unmodified communism, on a standard map at Emperor level, produce some pretty unhappy levels of corruption? I should really post some screenshots (and I think Dom is going to do the same with his AAR) but I'm at work until this evening.

Catt

[alexman]

I prefer to think of city spacing in terms of tile overlap between any two cities. You can have a 4-tile spacing with zero-3 tiles of overlap. You can have a 3-tile spcing with 2-6 tiles of overlap. I usually space my cities with 3-5 tiles of overlap, depending on a number of factors. For this game I tried to have less overlap than usual.

When I was ready to start my attack, I had 17 cities and very little corruption (maybe 8-10%). After taking 4 Persian cities, my cities I had carefully micromanaged to have just over 50 shields production needed to have some tiles mined to compensate for corruption. Very annoying!

I'm sure we all experienced the same thing. There might be some rounding effects from reducing the slider % and reducing the OCN% to compensate, but I tested Communism with the mod before this game and the only change is to the flat communal corruption, not to the OCN-related corruption.

In any event, even if it makes Communism better, this change needs to go (and it has, in v1.15), because it's not possible to have it without making Monarchy identical To Despotism in terms of corruption.

[BRC]

Our best bet may be to BEG Firaxis to give us a Communal Corruption slider in the next patch.

[Theseus]

Hey guys!!

Just want to say:
* GREAT JOB, BRC!!
* The AU Mod is insane... yeah, starting terrain matters hugely (again, kudos to BRC), but I've only played one game like this before (the Egyptian Mess, for those who remember... see below).
* I'm around, and reading the reports / AARs with baited breath! Catt's blew me away!
* I've been playing this since last weekend... it's tough!! As usual, I've been in a few more knock-down-drag-out fights than most. I'll do a proper AAR, with some good screenshots, I promise.

I wish I knew then (the Egyptian Mess) what I'm learning now... Communism kicks ass when you really need it.

Papa knew best.

[Dominae]

I just finished this game last night, and wow, what a game! I've never had this much fun with a Industrial/Modern war, ever!

A quick recap from where I left off: the year is 1300AD, I'm keeping the Chinese at bay with an Infantry blockade, and there are 2 turns to go for Refining. My game plan at this point is:

Refining-> Mass Production -> Motorized Transportation -> Win

Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure about how best to put this plan into action. My Republic is doing really well, I have all relevant improvements up to Stock Exchanges in my core cities, and I'm trying to gauge when the best time to switch to Communism will be. Should I research Radio first, hitting the Modern age and inching my way to MIs? Or take even longer and get MAs before taking on the world?

The arrival of Refining throws all my planning out of whack: the German empire cannot exploit even one source of Oil. I'm thus put into a Catch-22: if I wage war to get Oil, I need to be in Communism, which means I'm extending the time to MT; but if I put off obtaining Oil, I will not be able to build Panzers by the time I get MT. Furthermore, the other civs are getting mighty close to Replaceable Parts, which means my conquests will be that much more difficult (tough life, I know). I decide to make my tech lead as big as possible before attacking, so I let the Oil problem be for now and concentrate on Mass Production.

The Chinese sign a peace treaty with Persia, and eventually grow bored of running their Cavalry into my Infantry armies and make amends with me too. So I'm free to build and research for now, but I just know the Persians will be on my back soon, since they have no one else to pick on (the Chinese-Persian war was of my own doing).

Sure enough, in 1390AD, while I'm focusing on Commercial Docks, the Persians declare war. I immediately sign a ROP and Alliance with China (for The Corporation) in order to get them fighting again (always a good thing). ROP and RRs were a dream on this map. Because I could so effectively block unit movement (due to the chokepoints), I could essentially dictate when and where the AIs were going to fight. At some points it felt as though I was fighting with the Chinese forces in addition to my own!

The great thing about RRs is that you get to see an entire AI's attack force (total military units minus city defense units) the turn after they declare war. I guess this is only great if you're prepare for the onslaught. The Persians show up with 37 Riflemen, 32 Cavalry and 2 Infantry.

Initially, I'm as usual unprepared. But then I'm aided by the awesome power of the Draft ability. In 2 turns my army triples in size, as I conscript 40 Infantry. Between these guys, my 20 pieces of Artillery and the Chinese forces, I reduce the Persian army to 1 Longbowmen and 1 Immortal in 4 turns. Fun, fun!

Here's a screen from that battle:

[Dominae]

I hit Motorized Transportation around this time. Thus, I start thinking of Oil again, because my Infantry/Artillery combo will not capture Persian cities fast enough for my taste now that they've got Infantry of their own. CTRL-SHIFT-M shows me a few options:

1. The Bab 'Resource Island' (Catt's name)
2. OCC Rome (yup, they're still alive and sitting on Oil!)
3. Northern China (right across from Berlin)
4. Some Persian colony in 'The Narrows' (see screenshot)

Option 1 is bad because Babylon and I are great friends (i.e. they're giving up 200+gpt and Luxuries). The problem with option 2 is that I would need to rush a Harbor, which is not easy under Communism with a size 2 city. Option 3 is bad too because I've also got some per turn deals with China, and they're my allies for the time being. So option 4 is given the nod, considering that I'm already at war with Persia. I actually sign a ROP with England to get at the Romans as insurance, but the tricky English block my path with their slow Workers. This was by pure chance, I think, but it was a nice move on the AI's part nonetheless.

So, 1400AD, the turn I get MT, I steal Communism from the Babs (Carefully, for 1400 Gold) and begin the big revolution. Up to now, I've been the relatively peaceful builder, but the tides are changing, and soon I will the aggressor, and I will be VICTORIOUS!

My warmongering sentiments are supported by the comments on the blueprints for the new Panzer unit that has just become available, which I quote:

"The increased speed of the German Panzer makes their blitz maneuvers much more dangerous to their enemies, a power which is noted by all nations foolish enough to stand against Germany in the industrial age."

1420AD, COMMUNISM!

I send off four Galleys (sad, when my people know how to build Transports) full of units to get some Oil from the Persians. Panzer pre-builds begin.

Here's a screen of the Oil source I chose. Of particular note are the cities of Moscow and Liverpool, which block troop passage even with a ROP. This helped my control of the Chinese and Persian forces immensely.

[Dominae]

Oil brings Panzers, and Panzers bring victory. I push down into the Persiand lands with speed that surprised even myself. Panzers are truly dominant.

I conquered my first Persian city (Zohak) in 1430AD, and in 1585AD they're down to 3 cities. Their RRs truly did bring all their offensive forces to my door initially, as the only resistance I encounter is 3-4 Infantry per city, with a few "runners" (Infantry that run out into the open, presumably to assault weak spots in the offense) every few turns or so.

Here's a screenshot from the turn before I conquer the Pesian capital. Notice the stacks of Chinese Infantry in the upper left, which are desperately trying to get a piece of the action (our ROP is over at this point).

[Dominae]

At this point my core cities are producing nothing but Panzers, Cruise Missiles and (later) Mechanized Infantry, a trend which continues until the end of the game (Panzers being replaced by MAs).

I divert extra forces to wipe out Rome, England and the rest of Persia around The Narrows. This does not take long. Rome's claim to fame was that their Elite Spearmen forced my Veteran Panzer to retreat!

Now that Persian is gone, China is looking for someone to be angry with, and I'm the best target. This is fine with me, as the Chinese are next on my "to do" list. The Babs are still my friends, although I've stopped selling them techs in case I have to conquer some of their lands eventually (i.e. in case conquering the big continent is not sufficient for Domination).

Here's a screenshot of the turn before I get MAs, 2 turns before I declare war upon the Chinese. The Mountain tiles were simply perfect for dealing with all the annoying Chinese Infantry: because they use Infantry to attack (no Tanks yet), they lost almost 30 Infantry to my MIs. One MI took out 12 (including a Cavalry army) all by itself!

[Dominae]

As I start capturing Chinese cities, China trades for Motorized Transportation which gives me something else to fight other than Infantry. My momentum is too great at this point, and I grab about 3 cities per turn.

The Aztecs want a piece of me too, and ally with China. I send over 4 Transports full of MAs and MIs to their peninsula, which are greeted by a few Cavalry and Riflemen, but mostly Pikemen and Longbowmen.

As I finish with the Chinese, I put the squeeze on the Aztecs, coming from the North and South at the same time. The Aztec empire falls in 3 turns. As a side note, looking at their lands, I'm surprised they didn't do better. Anyone know why?

I'm getting a Leader or two per turn at this point, and am using them to rush cultural improvements so that the game ends quicker. Communism and modern warfare are fun, but I've been moving MIs and MAs around for too long now.

The Domination victory popup appears in 1710AD, 58 turns after my switch to Communism.

I thought the end-game graph was particularly funny this time, as it describes precisely the aims of this AU scenario. Can you pick out the turn I went Communist?

I'll post some strategy comments later. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're enjoying your games as much as I did mine!


Dominae

[ducki]

I don't seem to be able to Draft...
Republic, w/ Nationalism, I should be able to Conscript 1 unit per turn.

The 'pedia says to click the Draft button on the city display, but there's not one.

Any ideas? Did I just miss part of a change to Republic?

TIA,
ducki

[Catt]

Part 1 of 5

I’m not finished yet, but wanted to present a more complete AAR – my previous post was really just the tale of going after oil. Although that challenge seems to have turned out to be the seminal issue in Germany’s success, I thought I’d fill in the gaps a bit.

Given the rules of the game, my strategy from the get-go was to be REX with a technology push towards Literature – I wanted both the GL and the ability to build libraries quickly for a strong cultural position. My plans were interrupted by a Roman archer rush I could see coming from a long ways off. What could that one Roman warrior be doing fortified in the mountains just outside Hamburg? Where is this stream of Roman archers and a few spearmen headed – the only thing north are German cities? My REXing was therefore slowed a bit by the need to build a few extra spearmen and some archers. Ten to fifteen turns later, after 6 or 7 Roman units fell, Rome was happy to make peace. Earlier in the war I had one of my exploring warriors just outside Rome, but of course I couldn’t attack. He was killed, unfortunately. All other fighting took place just south or west of Hamburg which was built on the hill three tiles due south of Berlin (the start location). My forces never threatened Rome whatsoever, and so I was shocked by the peace terms – Rome offered Mysticism, Horseback Riding, and Masonry (IIRC) plus its entire treasury of 1 gold. Thanks you very much.

About this time I met Xerxes for the first time and I was shocked and a bit frightened by his empire. From the trading screen I could see that my three cities (with a settler ready to go, plus my capitol, means I had “5” cities) were quite easily bested by ten Persian cities (not including the capitol)! I really wanted to see the Persian start location! And I was angry that Caesar had slowed down my REX, if only a little bit. Despite the massive amount of luxury and then strategic resources available, I noted that we had no bonus food resources – my later view of the Persian and Chinese start positions obviously explained those empires’ fast start.

I used the Colossus as a pre-build for the GL and was ready to switch production when I finally got Literature. I could see that the GL would still have many turns of production to come, and didn’t switch production out of fear of telegraphing my acquisition of Literature to the world. This was silly, because of course the AI knows when a new technology might be available for trade. Only a few turns after discovering Literature, Mao demanded it and I refused, triggering the first Sino-German war. It was a war of little consequence. Several Chinese archers and warriors bounced off my spearmen – others died at the hands of German archers. I cravenly made peace, paying 100 gold and my world map, as a real contingent of Chinese forces had finally made their way to the German border at the southwest gem peninsula.

Somewhere along the line, Germany became a Republic. Military units and libraries were preferred builds, and for the Republic was born with few marketplaces (a rarity for me). At just about the advent of the Middle Ages, Mao again demanded tribute, was refused, and launched the second Sino-German war. A German-Russian-Persian alliance was formed and easily held the Chinese in check. Roman forces did get to fight a few battles with advancing Chinese forces, and luck shined on Rome, for a great leader emerged. The leader returned to Berlin where he would oversee the construction of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

The completion of Sun Tzu’s unexpectedly triggered a German golden age (BTW – I think I’m the third or fourth player to report an inadvertent or unexpected GA ). Seeking to use the GA to catch up in infrastructure, Germany made peace on neutral terms with China. Although the alliances had run their course, the Russians and Persians continued the fight.

Below is a screenshot from a randomly selected saved game – it gives a good view of the German REX results (middling, at best) and the state of the world in the Middle Ages. It also highlights how much I neglected what I would call “conventional” infrastructure in many of my games – note that although I am researching Economics (having foolishly thought I could get there first and snag Smith’s (I wasn’t close), I haven’t even built marketplaces in my southern cities. Also note my city placement – too often planting cities in the center of land in an effort to culturally expand to the coasts – not nearly enough coastal cities -- a boneheaded move that cost me greatly later. My early strategy – the GL for tech and libraries for culture, followed by temples for more culture – was poorly conceived and then poorly executed. In looking back over my game, I have seen a lot of boneheaded, unclear thinking and execution – most of which I will post later in a “lessons I learned” post after the AAR. In short, this randomly generated screenshot made me ask myself “what in the heck was I thinking (if I was thinking at all)?”

EDIT: Fixed boo-boo

[Catt]

Part 2 of 5

War raged on the homeland, but Germany remained aloof of much of it. China crushed the Aztecs and controlled a huge swath of territory. The Persians and Russians were often at war with China. Germany was occasionally dragged in, but rarely fought since Chinese units needed to get past allied troops and cities first. Soon the English were routed too. Just as German was preparing to enter the Industrial Age, during a period of calm on our landmass, Mao once again declared war against Germany, triggering the third Sino-German war. Virtually all German forces were rushed south to hold our southwestern border city, and once again alliances with Russian and Persian forces were bought. Mao sent hordes of Chinese riders and then cavalry at us, and it was actually quite dicey for a while. An inefficient road system to our southeast slowed the stream of Persian and Russian allied forces – even with an RoP, an uncluttered road is needed and German workers had been neglectful in that regard (how I missed having a bunch of slave workers). The allies survived the initial onslaught, and eventually, especially with the RRing of the transit routes after steam power, the Persians and Russians pushed back Chinese influence. Germany stayed in a technical state of war with China for quite some time, though saw little action after the exciting start of hostilities.

German research at the beginning of the Industrial Age focused on securing ToE and Hoover Dam, which could only be built in Berlin. Bismarck bypassed Sanitation and Longevity which was a mistake in retrospect. We did secure Scientific Method prior to other civs and managed to trade it for Communism and Replaceable Parts, IIRC. But Babylon had become a technological powerhouse, and had already researched Sanitation, the Corporation, and perhaps Replaceable Parts. Because only Berlin could build Hoover, and because it was the capitol and therefore could not use a palace pre-build (meager as that was in any event), Hoover Dam was still 20 or so turns from completion when Germany acquired Electronics via ToE. The Babylonians built both Longevity and Universal Suffrage, and much to Germany’s surprise started building Hoover when Berlin was 3 turns away from completing it. This was the first time in Bismarck’s memory when, after securing ToE, any AI opponent even discovered Electronics (and usually Atomic Theory) before Bismarck or his forbears had completed Hoover Dam. Although it is possible that Hammurabi used espionage to steal technology, Bismarck simply believed that the Babylonians had built a research powerhouse – with Longevity and their isolation (read peace on the homeland), Babylonian cities rapidly reached size 25+ population.

With the discovery of Refining, the German dilemma was exposed. Bismarck hatched a plan to take and secure “Resource Island” from the Babylonians. Not only would a successful operation supply Germany with needed resources, it might also slow the Babylonian juggernaut by forcing Hammurabi to abandon Democracy and rule with an iron fist.

I previously described the German effort to secure Resource Island (many posts above) and won’t retell the story again. But I’ll throw in some screenshots. Below is a shot either one or two turns after landing and taking our initial target. The population remains at 4 – all resistors – so I wasn’t able to assign workers to land tiles to show the 7-turn harbor build I previously described. The Babylonian bombing runs began the next turn, I would guess. In the upper right of the screenshot you can see the one surviving destroyer from my convoy of three that had been tasked with securing the sea lanes between Resource Island and Babylon – two destroyers were sunk by Babylonian cruise missiles as they entered the straights from the southwest; the third hightailed it around the eastern edge of RI and was planning on heading north and then back to safety. It stumbled into significant Babylonian naval forces and was sunk by a submarine the next turn. A fourth destroyer on the northwestern edge of RI “bumped” into a submarine but survived the engagement. It too was sunk the next turn.

[Catt]

Part 3 of 5

With a spy planted in Babylon, our military advisor warned us that we faced a much stronger enemy.

[Catt]

Part 4 of 5

150 years later, Resource Island is pacified, but its countryside is ravaged and it is still subject to Babylonian landing parties. Germany has finally controlled the skies over RI, and naval control is close.

With control of all of RI, Germany was able to focus its attention on China. Mao, ever the friendly neighbor, launched the fourth Sino-German war just 2 turns before Bismarck gave the order to attack Babylon’s colonies. Mao was also at war with several other countries, and only rarely did Chinese forces show outside German territory. Without the need to constantly replenish materiel on RI, the German industrial effort churned out panzers for a strike on China. Bismarck vowed that the fourth Sino-German conflict would be either the last or the penultimate, but at Bismarck’s decision. Mao’s days of taking the initiative in regards to Germany were over.

As described previously, German panzers rolled through poorly defended Chinese cities and made surprisingly quick headway into the Chinese core. Germany soon controlled numerous wonders of the world, greatly helping the German economy.

[Catt]

Part 5 of 5

While Germany disemboweled China, Persia destroyed Russia. Bismarck watched as a stack of Persian armor and infantry moved over Germany’s southeastern border. He was confident that the Persian forces were headed to Russian controlled Kaifeng, but he substantially strengthened German defenses to his south nonetheless. And then Persian and Chinese treachery showed through – with a large force in German lands, Xerxes declared Persia part of an alliance with Babylon and declared war.

German retribution was swift, however. With China largely defanged, Bismarck shifted his attacking forces from the Chinese front to the new Persian front. The initial Persian strike force was mauled, and subsequent panzer strikes exposed the fundamental weakness of the Persian military. German armor marched quickly towards Persepolis.

The screenshot below shows the trespassing Persian forces on the turn of their declaration. The superimposed minimap just above the proper minimap is taken from 4 turns after the declaration and shows the German advance.

More to tell when I finish the game, especially the “lessons I learned” post I promised – I turned a critical eye on my own game and found numerous flaws and stupidities.

[Catt]

@Dominae - great write-up and very well played!

Originally posted by ducki
I don't seem to be able to Draft...
Republic, w/ Nationalism, I should be able to Conscript 1 unit per turn.

The 'pedia says to click the Draft button on the city display, but there's not one.

Any ideas? Did I just miss part of a change to Republic?

There are a couple of other restrictions -- IIRC, the city must be at least 6 or 7 pop, and I think there is a restriction on drafting foreigners (in case you somehow acquired foreign citizenry).

Catt

[Dominae]

As always, nice effort with the AAR, Catt. Just one comment:

Originally posted by Catt
Roman forces did get to fight a few battles with advancing Chinese forces, and luck shined on Rome, for a great leader emerged. The leader returned to Rome where he would oversee the construction of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

I assume the German Leader returned to Berlin to rush Sun Tzu's, right?


Dominae

[Dominae]

I'm under the impression that only your citizens can be drafted, and you need to have at least a size 7 city. I'm actually certain about the second part, but I recall drafting out of big Persian cities, so I might well be wrong about the first.


Dominae

[ducki]

You guys are right about the size.
I don't know about foreign nationals, because I don't have any, but the size thing is correct. Naturally, I was trying to draft out of my crappy cities(towns, actually. bad word usages, city/town, in the docs. too confusing) that are too small.

Thanks!

[Catt]

Originally posted by Dominae
I assume the German Leader returned to Berlin to rush Sun Tzu's, right?

Yes I will fix it.