Epic Forty: The Hittite Cosmonauts

[Sir Bugsy]

1870 was a momentous year which saw:

and:

We had to self-research miniaturization and robotics ourselves, since Ozzy’s economy was shot. Then in 1882 the world is changed forever:


Here are screen shots of the Hittite Empire. The Core:

The northeast:

The western cities:

And Hubnisha:


Sorry this report was so long. I got a bit carried away.

This was a very exciting variant. The game was in question right up until the final 10 turns or so. The restrictions caused the loss of most standard strategy options, and really made me examine my options. Communism can be an excellent government when played under the right conditions (14 or fewer cities). The worker restrictions really slowed me down. Thanks to Griselda for a very interesting game.

[Charis]

All right, nice game!!

I'm glad you liked it, and yes, the seemingly small set of rule changes did require
a lot of adjustment. Looks like you handled that fairly well - added in with a fair
amount of luck on stealing, a judicious dogpile when things went south,
and off to Alpha C you go :D

Charis

[Kylearan]

Hi,

Sorry this report was so long. I got a bit carried away.

I will never understand why so many people apologize for their long reports - if a report is good, it cannot be long enough IMHO. Yours was a good read! Lots of pictures, maybe a bit light on words. It seemed to have been an exciting game, congrats on your victory!

-Kylearan

[Urugharakh]

As an answer to this post you will find my personal rule change for my Epic 40 game. My detailed report will be posted in answers to that post. Please post any comments to my report as an answer to THIS message to keep the report structure intact. Destroying the report sturcture might be annoying for other readers.

Urugharakh

[Urugharakh]

This game is on emperor and I'm fairly bored by normal emperor games without either a nice comparative goal like Epic 36 or some serve challenge like Epic 37. Unfortunately my emperor games tend to have me conducting all research from late medival on age alone. This was the case in my Epic 36 and 37 games als well as in my not finished Epic 39 game (no report available here). I did expect the same for Epic 40 even with the one (native) worker per city and the 21 city tile rule in effect. Unlike Epic 36 the only competition would be the final victory date. Not enough for a fun and entertaining game for me. So why not make the scenario a bit harder?

Additional rules followed by myself:

1) I will never declare war.

2) I will always cave to threats. (No war provocation!

3) I will never ask fo leaving my territory. (No war provocation!

4 ) I will never use spionage or plant spies. (No war provocation!

5) I will never attack a city unless is position is directly adjacent to the native 21 tiles of one of my cities, so that I would loose tiles to a poaching AI city without being able to keep them by superior culture.

6) I will never pillage any tile on the map.

7) I will never accept a cultural flip.

8) I will never accept a city in a peace treaty.

[Urugharakh]

The starting position is fertile and has a good shield potential.



Obviously we must move our settler as the starting tile would be of coast and will have 3 coastal tiles in its city radius. In a normal game I would probably found one tile north as overlap would allow to use all available tiles and slight overlap would greatly reduce distance corruption. In our scenario distance corruption will be serve until I might change to communism later in the game provided this would be
appropriate. So I opted for the strongest single city position one tile east on the hill.



Founding Hattusas in 3950 BC gives a free warrior from the hut. A scout is ordered.

In my previous conquest game - Epic 39 start - I discovered a change in evaluation of research versus tech buys. 2fers are much harder to get and more expensive when payed by cash than they where in PTW, while your techs sell better. Add that minimum research whas been greatly weakend and that you can actually get some good research out of distant corrupt cities using a scientist I started maximum research on writing. Something I never did before.

Already in 3850 BC I met Osman.



That is early. Too early for my taste, as we have overlapping first rings. This calls for some dastardly blockades. Readers of my Epic 9 report might remember what will happen soon.

My warrior opens another hut.



Free cities are less valuable than free settlers and that is even more true in this game. First of all, it is an allowed city, so I can build a worker out of it and might keep it. Fine so far. Tarsus will definitely determine my future city placement. If kept, there will be almost no choices available for future cities. Depending on the terrain I might have disband it. For now at least it will provide lots of cash via beaker production and unit upkeep. Furthermore it will be perfect for warrior/scout production in order to establish the Ottoman blockade enabling Hattusas to have an usual granary settler opening without neglecting the necessary blockade of AI settlers.

The rules force some strange worker movement.



After the starting tile is completely developed the normal move would be working the floodplain wheat, but that is still outside our cultural borders. I had the option of waiting 2 turns or improving the wheat 2 turns later and build a road on the northeastern floodplain for more commerce. Naturally I opted for the latter, as I would do so anyway later and worker turns are precious in this scenario. Hattusas finished a scout and started on granary. The mini map shows my scouting process in western and southern direction. Tarsus just build a scout and that warrior will later be changed to a worker. I almost forgot the change which would have cost me 5 precious worker turns.

One hut



and another



There where two more huts. One in the west. My scout currently on the western tip of our continent popped that hut and got a warrior, which was fine in view of the to be formed blockade. The other was popped by the scout in this screenschot slightly farther east and gave maps. You see from the minimap that my scout in the east retreated to help a blockade. I calculated I would have not enough units otherwise and the gains of further scouting eastwards seemed to be low as I already met a couple of Mayan warriors there.

I was struck by



The current tile improvement was not the best at the moment but was optimal in terms of worker turns and with lots of hills and mountains still to be improved my my lone Hattusas worker I felt worker turns were more important then the optimal usage of tiles in the early game.

The first Ottoman settler/spear pair shows up.



Istanbul dropped down to 1 pop. At some time here I traded pottery @monopol for bronze working @3rd and some gold. Writing will show up next turn. I plan trading alphabet or writing to one of my neighbours for mysticism - stopping research until this is possible - then research polytheism and philosophy at full speed resulting in monarchy early on. Mysticism is highly valued by AIs because of the Oracle and even more since C3C as Temple of Artemis, the favourite AI wonder, will become available with polytheism. Indeed Mysticism shows up immediately.



Unfortunately thats a bit too expensive for my taste. The gpt will cut into my research and the cash will not allow deficit research. So I wait until Mayan either researched it themself or researched something dirrefent and my opponents traded.



That is much better. Those accumulated 51 gold will be burned in deficit research, so no turns are lost.

My first self founded city grabs the wheat at the coast.



First of all I should mention, that Tarsus is founded on a good spot. So I keep it. The position of Uragit is natural then. I founded it first in the hope of building the lighthouse there. I have room for at most 7 more cities on near Hattusas and only in case my blockades work. So I must found at least 4 cities oversea. The lighthouse will prove invaluable for this. Otherwise the best spots might be grabbed by the owner of the lighthouse when I can arrive there and I would be confined to at most 10 cities according ot my tightened rules.

A second Ottoman settler pair emerges and my now 8 blockade units have some booring work to do. I can't afford a blockade of a third settler pair. So I opt for setteling the sides first. Harran is founded to grab the ivory.



The eastern settler is only one tile away from destination where the warrior is positioned. Finally the holes are filled and Hattusas starts on pyramids. Same time Tarsus builds some real military.



Harran has enough food to provide the remaining settlers. As you see, I'm only 2 turns away from philosophy and hopefully from monarchy as well.

We arrive at



drumroll please ...



got it. That was the second part of my early game strategy. (First was the blockade.) Now hope for the Lighthouse. I immediately revolt of course



drawing 4 turns of anarchy. This screenshot prooves the power of the new scientists. I'm forced to make some specialists during anarchy and a couple of scientists brings literature up to 28 turns already.

[Rik Meleet]

My report:

http://home.zonnet.nl/witpaard/Civ.html
I really enjoyed my first Realms game. And I hope you enjoy reading my report just as well.

Rik

[Urugharakh]

875 BC is my time for embassies as I finally can spare the cash. Here is the investigation of Istanbul.



Osman has just revolted. See the bastards founded Izmit? That would be a city I'm allowed to attack, provided Osman declares of course.



This screenshot shows barbarians near Aleppo. My warriors that participated in the Ottoman blockade are already in place at Aleppo and killed them during the next turn. Nevertheless this was unpleasent as the settler southeast of Ugarit was build in Harran and on the way towards the west coast. In the east you see a blockade of a mayan settler pair. Literature is already discovered and even minimum research is fast now with Hattusas at size 12 and Tarsus size 10. Map making was traded in for monarchy btw.

Some action between my neighbours started



and two more cities are founded.



I opted for the Statue of Zeus mainly to deny it to my opponents. Those few units will help defending my possessions and let me keep my my infrastructure building and not having to be concerned about a possible war against ancient cavs is nice. Aleppo will eventually get my FP. At the moment I was still undecided about my FP city as Ugarit might be a better location depending on eventual oversea aquirements. So with the knowledge for the map layout building barracks at Aleppo was a mistake.

I met a Byzantine ship in 270 BC, did some trading



so I saved 5 turns on entering medival age and established an embassy



Slightly later my galley waiting for the Lighhouse discovered a passage and I got into contact with Japan.



Nothing to trade after establishing an embassy.

Time for a wonder that will put me into golden age



and a new city.



By founding Hubishana I decided on Aleppo as my FP city. I rushed that libary for more science output and then switchend to FP.

Reporting about medival age is short. I build a few wonders,



received a genocide message



and founded 3 additional cities in the hope of getting some late game resources and otherwise let the specialists do their job.





Alaca Huyuk was founded before the 2 cities in the previous pitcure, hance the odd location as I origionally planed another city on that island but decided on 2 cities on the other island once I discovered it.

Babylon was the AI I found last.



I went back to wonder building.



Knights templar was build acconring a similar reason as Statue of Zeus. The 17 shields after disbanding will help my low shield cities in the early industrial age. In addition this will break the cascade and I cane savely get all medival wonders.

[Urugharakh]

FP was online late due to serve shield problems in Aleppo.



The city had a great potential after all jungle was clared and the mountains/hills are improved. Unfortunately the game will be over before all their tiles got improved.

More wonders.



None of the AIs knew theology by that time, so Sistine was secured too. (Forgot a screenschot for Sistine )

My neighbours made peace some turns ago, but didn't keep it.



I did some rare trading.



That small trade screenshots nicely provide the story of my progress and what happend outside my territory saving me lots of writing.

Mayas and Ottoman are heading towards military tradition with full speed.





Both neighbours made a threat for education earlier, so I was forced to part with banking now.

Some more wonder building



Ottomans are loosing badly on our home continent. Nevertheless they aquired some oversea colonies and are the first with some reasonable gpt income, which nicely supports my research.



Navigation was discovered earlier, hence the already complete world map. Magnetism is my last medival tech. I still have to aquire military tradition, but don't care to spent turns researching it.

[Urugharakh]

I enter industrial age 2 techs ahead of Ottomans and Mayans. Babylon and Japan still lack theology and chivalry, so absolute no competition from oversea. Japan later asked for chivalry and I had to cave according my private rules. Oh, and my wonder building continues.



Mayans got military tradition before Ottomans and rolled over them.



They razed that anoying Ottoman poach city south of Hattusha. Nobody builds Bach in earnest. The other continent still lacks the tech. Osman constantly tries and the city is taken/razed by Smoke Jaguar and the latter starts it in a small ~2spt city. Unless someone pulls a scientific leader from printing press. Note I haven't spent the remaining medival techs among the scientific AIs. When they pull nationalism it will still be tile to aquire the tech, but I definitely don't want that spread around and let Mayans aquire it and turn on me. So I might have wasted some turns for here in return for a secure game.

Mayans finally enter industrial age same time they liminated Ottomans from our starting continent.



A late bach Cathedral



Timing:





AIs still don't research anything useful. I sold my techs every time I get at least 20 gpt for them. However that rarely happend.



Hoover in 1470 AD and some action (not for me)



as nothing else happens I enter modern age.