Holy Cow

Settings

Difficulty: Noble
Rivals: 13

Rainforest
Flat
Huge World Size
Medium Sea Level
Ancient Starting Era
Normal Game Speed

Unrestricted Leaders
Random Personalities
No Technology Brokering
No Random Events

Elizabeth

• Philosophical
• +100% Great People
  • Awesome!
• Double Production University
  • Meaningless.
• Financial
• +1 commerce on plots with 2 commerce
  • The best trait in the game, by far.

Holy Roman Empire

Starting Technologies

• Mysticism
• as religions remain important to me
• Hunting
• another unimportant detail

Unique Building

• Rathaus
• A Courthouse with -75% maintenance
  • Hugely powerful on a map like this.

Unique Unit

• Landsknecht
• 6/1 Pikeman
  • +100% vs Mounted Units
  • +100% vs Melee Units
  • Archery Units being it's only weakness, then.

Mods & Such
Beyond the Sword 3.19
BUG Mod 4.5 [Build 2221]
BULL 1.4 [Build 243]
BAT Mod 4.1

Final First Words

I anticipate this will be the last normal game of CIV IV that I play for awhile, as I intend to hit the mods next year. Originally, I was planning on playing an Arboreal Map, but since the Arboreal Maps are so close to the Rainforest Maps (and the Rainforest Maps look better), well, here I am playing a Rainforest Map.

The intent is to fight early and fight often. Along with that, I anticipate developing a Monk Economy (because it's just a powerhouse) and get a Corporation or two if the game lasts that long (Cereal Mills and Mining Inc or Creative Construction, seeming very likely).

As per usual, the In Game Notes will hold the main strategic discussion. But I will say that settling on the Plains Hills is looking like a good first move to me. Of course, that may depend upon what the Scout reveals first. And with that, I will leave you (or at least, myself) to it.

Things did not go well for me in the first game (played on the Holy Cow map). I wasn't paying enough attention. {Excuses. Excuses.} And as such, a Barbarian killed one of my cities early on. Also, my strategy was all wrong. On a map this large (Huge), one of the limiting factors (i.e. important strategic considerations) will be the extent of one's Early Expansion. An early Religion or two is meaningless. Which is to say, Confucianism will work just as well as Hinduism. Besides, as it's WAR!, I expect to be taking over a shrine or two.

Anyhow, after losing a city, it was (clearly) time to reboot and try again... only, I did not want to replay the same map (Holy Cow) regardless of how little I knew about that map. So (after reloading the initial Holy Cow game save file), I started hitting Regenerate Map. Ironically, I think the seed stays the same. So, say, if you (me, or anyone) were to hit Regenerate Map prior to moving, you (me, and/or everyone) would cycle through the same map choices. I maybe cycled through a hundred different Map Regenerations with the above Rice Island being near the end. It's an amazingly poor start.

These next two maps (come before this Rice Island Seed) and are way better.

I will be playing the Lone Cow River map (on the right), but I figure any map in the first hundred regenerations or so (prior to the Rice Island Seed) is fair game (assuming you want to play against me posthumously, if you catch my drift). Of course, if you (are a masochist and) really want a handicap (so as to prove your mettle) go with the Rice Island start. It sucks!

All of these saves are included in the zip file... and should be derivable from the first game save, if nothing else.

Now, time to be a bit more expansive and aggressive.

...

Um, I didn't get very far on Lone Cow, as my health sucked.

So, I quickly altered course and tried Three Pigs, instead.

The above shows part of my ending position on the Three Pigs Map. While playing Three Pigs, I was too expansive... and maybe not aggressive enough. But my real downfall (well, not so much a downfall, but a clear mistake) was in over-expanding into land that I did not have the workers to clear. In the above image, my land (The Holy Roman Empire) is outlined in yellow and is full of unimproved Rainforest, which is only slightly better than a Desert or Mountain tile (and not really even that, since although Rainforest provides +1 Food, it also yields -1 Health).

Meanwhile, a war was in the offing, which I feel I would have won, but my economy was going to take a long time to recover from all that early over-expansion, so I quit, loaded the Rice Island Seed, and proceeded to Regenerate more Maps until I found a satisfactory starting position.

Still, playing this map for 155-Turns is all I did yesterday. And I had fun. Hopefully, I'll have as much fun today... and wind up in a position I actually want to continue on from tomorrow.

Also, it should be easier to differentiate the four Maps that follow (three more false starts, then a winning game), as I break the different Maps up into different sections, with a big old header... just like the Pig Flats centered title bar below.

My first inclination is remark that this map (Pig Flats) has a mediocre starting position. And my second is to brag that it is the second auto-regenerated map after Rice Island, so I'm not being as picky. Still, it's got stone, which is good for the early wonders, and enough food with the pigs (and two floodplains) to allow cottaging everything else. Also, I am (currently) of the opinion that those plains cottages (with their 1/1 food/hammers) are better than grasslands (at 2/0).

We'll see, of course.

I guess the real lesson to be learned here is that those mammoth scores (that I sometimes log) come courtesy of a diverse array of discarded games. After all, practice does make perfect.

I, also, like the fact that the seeds are consistent, so those playing at home can select their own perfect start given the limitation of the map.

And now, let's play... once again.

Poor Play

I did not play this map well... not well at all. I played as a builder, when I should not have. So, at Turn 150, I had exactly two cities. Oh, I was the points leader... or close to it. But I'm going to say, I should have had at least ten if not twenty cities at this point in the game. Instead, I had a handful of wonders. So, I'm going to try again and switch it around, attempting to trade wonders for more cities.

Goodie Huts

I had fabulous luck with the Goodie Huts; so much so, I intend to build an extra Scout or two next game. After multiplying my Scout by getting more free Scouts (that I ultimately lost), Warriors (that I ultimately lost), and Experience (which fortuitously was gifted to my lone surviving Scout), I wound up with:

    Archery
    Agriculture
    Monarchy
    Mathematics

    +301 in Gold

    ------------

    +/- 1,300

It's quite the haul for one 15 Hammer Scout (that I didn't even build, since I started the game with it). Hence (on huge maps, at least), I'm thinking it might be wise to build a Scout or two, while my Capitol City grows.

And that's exactly what I'll do on this next map: the third possible auto-regeneration in the series after this last.

The Pig Haven Start is food rich and (astonishingly, to me anyway) hammer poor, but I think I can work with that. I'd hold out for cows, instead, to give myself a few hammers. But experience has shown me that this map is loaded to the gils with pig, not cow.

The (cut and paste) Strategy Plan (from the 015-in-game-notes) is:

Research
    Polytheism, Monotheism
    Agriculture, Animal Husbandry
    Bronze Working
    Code of Laws
      
      -> Landsknecht Techs
      -> Monk Wonders Techs
        

REX
    10-20 Cities by T150
    50-70% Slider
    Consistent Spacing
        c - - c - - c
        - - - - - - -
        - - - - - - -
        c - - c - - c

Wonders
    Only the Monk Economy Wonders
        University of Sankore
        The Spiral Minaret
        The Sistine Chapel
    Late Game Wonders Allowed
        Starting with
            The Statue of Liberty

Unit Discipline
    Building
    Worker/Settler/Unit
    Building
    Worker/Settler/Unit
        Ties to the Units  

And that about covers it. I don't know if it is a winning strategy... well, I do. It is. The key is having the discipline to keep to the plan.

Thus, Confucianism shall be the State Religion, assuming I get it. It's rigidity a reminder of the need for discipline.

And no, I do not know if Confucianism is a particularly rigid religion. But my in-game interpretation of it shall be.


Ha!

I've, already, changed my mind about both Polytheism and Monotheism. Confucianism is the one true religion of the Rigorous Builds and Dependable Mealtimes. And as such, I can bypass both Polytheism and Monotheism (as in, completely remove them from the strategy guide above) and be upwards of fifty turns to the good in my other research goals.

Long Live the Celestial Timetable and Build Order of the Gods!

Like many of these abandoned games, I may have been able to make a go of it. But being surrounded by jungle and being denied the iron I would need to defend myself against Barbarians the perceived set-back (and, indeed, it would have been a major set back) was too great. It's, also, easy to see being harassed by Barbarians for the next fifty turns; and then (after that), being harassed by either the Dutch (to the right) or the Americans (to the left).

I'll take the loss and reboot.

I think the strategy is solid, however. It felt good, even surrounded by jungle.

Oh, and my one Scout did alright, but not nearly as miraculously as last time:

    + Fishing
    + 100 Gold

The food is there. And I think I have the strategy. I mean, at some point, the strategy is not there if one has to continually reboot. And I admit that I've played poorly on most of these maps. But the last map (Pig Haven), I think I got a pretty bad draw, so I don't feel like it had anything to do with my strategy. Thus, I'll do the same as before... only throwing Calendar in there somewhere to access the Bananas.

Wish me luck!

By now, it should be clear that I need it.

And in the end, there is not much to tell about my play on the Bananas Map. I went the standard Bronze Working -> Iron Working route. And by the time I realized I did not have any of either it was too late to bring Horsemen online. Well, actually, it was not too late, but after I had settled two away from Horses rather than with Horses in my inner circle it was too late. I was defenceless when the Barbarians came. And to be honest, I have little desire to replay this map any better. The food was nice, but whipping can be a micro-management nightmare. Besides, with all the jungle on the map, I'd rather have an Iron Defence in place than a Horseman Defence.

So, Game Over!

On the re-roll, I hoped for a few more hills. Um, be careful what you wish for.

As they say, the eight time is the charm. I destroyed this map:

Domination Victory
T330
1910AD
Score: 5,479
Normalized: 51,611

I feel that I destroyed this map, as I pretty much had it wrapped up (unless I messed things up big time, which I've done plenty of times in the past) by the T216 Game Save:

• I had the Monk Economy going full bore.
• I built all three of the religious wonders, giving my temples:
  • +2 Gold
  • +2 Gold
  • +5 Culture
• I had a significant Tech Lead over my rivals.
• Not decisive, but significant.
• I controlled a full 10% of the Land Area (with 13 rivals), putting me at the top of the charts.
• And although I trailed in population (11% vs 15% of the map total), I had double spaced my cities, so there was plenty of space for infill.
  • X - - O - - X
  • X being a current city.
  • O being an infill.
• Also, I led the world in Manufacturing.
• Which I believe has more to do with a Human Being being more effective at The Whip than the Computer AI.
• And finally, I had 28 workers for 20 cities.
• This was a jungle map.
• Chopping that jungle was important.

I, suppose, while rationalizing why the game was in the bag at T216, I should evaluate why (in the end) I did not win sooner:

• I declared war too soon.
• I should have waited until my military power was overwhelmingly decisive.
  • Having stacks five and ten times as big as the defenders, rather than twice as big.
• Or waited until my units were Eras ahead.
  • At the end, Infantry (as well as Tanks, Mechanized Infantry, and Advanced MBT's) were going against Medieval Era units.
  • I should have waited for Cannons against Longbows, at least.
• I did not accept Capitulation.
• So, those willing to (Capitulate) Capitulated to another, instead.
• If I were stronger when I attacked, this might not have made a difference. But having attacked when I did, I should have accepted Capitulation.
• I was unfocused in the late game.
• I built unneeded Wonders.
  • The Eiffel Tower with a Cultural Bonus I did not need.
• And I started Wonders I never completed.
  • My capitol's last thirty turns were spent constructing the Three Gorges Dam, which I never used.
  • I could have had eight Medium Tanks, instead.
• I over-built buildings in the late game.
• But this is harder to pinpoint, the choice was often between a few primitive buildings (granary, forge, barracks) and a single tank.
  • Still, I built plenty of factories towards the end in cities that never built anything else.
• Corporations came too late.
• It's tricky, of course.
• But I think expecting, counting on, and developing corporations pulled my attention away from combat, which is how I was going to win this game.
• Finally, my late game Technological Advances were discovered in an erratic and un-disciplined order.
• I should have Researched Electricity -> Radio -> Mass Media back-to-back.
• Mass Media obsoletes the Apostolic Palace, which was causing me grief.

I'm sure more (and better) analysis (about something) will follow.

I question the utility of the Population Graph on the right, so this might be the last time I include it. Population tends to increase exponentially over time. Devoid of scale, the graph has always looked about the same. On the other hand, if I am going to include a Population Graph, this might just be the time, as a total population in the 1,200 range (sum(city_pop)), indicates this is my largest civilization to date with 138 cities... you know, if I added the number of cities correctly, as that's exactly the sort of thing I'm prone to get wrong.

In regards to the Commerce Graph on the left:

• T250
• A slider change bumps research with a corresponding decline in gold.
• T275
• Indicates the opposite of the preceding with an increase in gold and decrease in research.
• T180-220
• I'm going to guess my first two Golden Ages fell in this areas, but I'm not going to load the game to confirm.
• T310
• The boost in Culture is from the completion of The Eiffel Tower, which gives a 50% Culture boost.
• T325
• The second boost in my rapidly rocketing Culture comes when I switch the slider to full Culture for an End Game Rush.
  • I only needed a handful of tiles for victory. So, Culture translated into victory.
  • More focused Research and I could have done this sooner.

Neither of those two graphs are the most informative for this game. For that, we have to look to the in-game graphing function and our (or my) Crop Yield.

I founded Sid's Sushi in 1834AD, so that upwards curve (starting 1750AD or so, I'm going to guess) comes from my Infill Settlement Program.

Remember, how I settled:

X - - O - - X

Well, this must have been when I came back and started the infill:

X - - X - - X

And opening up the T262 Game Save File confirms this is the cause. I only had 22 Farms, so the boost could not have come from Biology. But at the time, I only had 34 Cities... or about a fourth of what I would end up with at the end of the game.

So, my mistake, I was going to attribute this sudden increase in Crop Yield to Sid's Sushi (and I am sure a small portion of it is due to Sid's Sushi, say the final 20%), but the overwhelming majority (say 80%) is due to a four-fold increase in the number of cities.

Once again, the military wins out. It's more advantageous to take over (or if you must, build) a bunch of cities than relying on the growth of your infrastructure.

On the Rainforest Maps, there were lots of Pigs, Bananas, and Rice. So, lots of food. And with Rice, Sid's Sushi was still feasible.

On the other hand, production was a real limiting factor. I had well over a hundred cities... but only a half dozen or so with access to more than 25 hammers; and only three, in which I would consider building a Wonder. But by liberal application of The Whip and Drafting, I was able to overcome this limitation. It came at a price, however, as cycling through my Cities to Whip every turn did get tedious.

Also, Iron can be scarce on a Rain Forest Map. And (I do believe) I only had a single copper even at the end.

OK.

That last was incorrect:

  5  Copper
 10  Iron
 59  Bananas
 63  Rice
110  Pigs

At the end, nothing else was over ten. And unfortunately, no Corporation relies on either Pigs or Bananas.

On the final turn, I had 109 Workers, which was not enough (to Chop all that Jungle). I mean, it was enough for the end game. But I could have had that many Workers a hundred turns earlier to great effect. I should have build at least two Workers for every Settler. Of course, things like that are easy to say. After all, I could have traded any number of Wonders for more Workers. But that is hardly the trade I am ever going to make. And settling a City early to insure possession is well worth a few dozen turns working unimproved resources.

The change in Resources and a lack of hills was the biggest change in going from a Standard Map to a Rainforest one.

Typically, I tend to like Flood Plains. But Pigs on Grassland with a few hills is better. In this last game (Mountain Home), I never owned a single Flood Plain until the very end. It did not make a difference. I (quite likely) over-value Flood Plains.

This game took place on a Huge Single Continent Map.

This was fun in that I did not have to build a navy and all the Wonders that effect a single continent effected my entire 138 City Empire. That's 138 Free Specialists (from The Statue of Liberty), Broadcast Towers (from the Eiffel Tower), and who knows what else (Power from The Three Gorges Dam, if I had ever completed it).

On the other hand, the end game was a bit tedious. My economy relied on The Whip & Drafting, which meant is was taking me 10-15 minutes to cycle through my cities every turn. Also (in order to avoid burnout), Automating Workers was a must. But as we all know, Automated Workers are truly (mind-numbingly) stupid.

In other news, there was plenty of land to expand into. And the early Settlement Race was basically non-existent. Instead of Double Jumping:

X - - O - - X

I might try Triple Jumping:

X - - O - - O - - X

You know, next time... if there is a next time.

Actually, I'm leaning towards Settling the best (highest Resource Rich) sites possible with little regard for the distance. A City that can build Wonders is rare. Those are the Cities I want.

Oh (and finally, having nothing to do with the map size), I played with Random Leaders and Random Personalities, which I doubt I will be doing again, any time soon. The game calls out Civilizations by Leader in the different Strategy Screens. And it really helps to have the same Leader associated with the same Civilization game after game. Ragnar was Khmer. Stalin was Viking. It gets confusing.

• Random Personalities are confusing.
• It bears repeating.
• They really are.
• I should attack my opponents (in order) from weakest to strongest.
• Even though all my opponents were Randomly Selected, they stayed the same upon Map Regeneration.
• I need to specialize my Cities better.
• Selecting the cities to specialize earlier and behaving appropriately throughout the game.
• Settling Great People in the appropriate City (if settling).
  • Great Scientist to the Science City.
  • Great Spy to the Spy City.
  • Great Merchant to the Gold City.
  • Great General to the Military Production City.
• I had tons of Great People this game.
• Pull up the game or look at my (015-in-game-notes) for more details.