K-MOD FOUR WAY

Settings

Civ 4 w/ The BTS Patch 3.19
K-Mod 1.46

Monarch
Mansa Musa

Including Musa, there are Four Civilizations, each with a Continent to themselves. So, an isolated start. Though, there is some chance that a group of islands in the center will allow for Pre-Astronomy contact.

I choose a Stone Start, so the early Stone Wonders are nice and cheap. And I choose Non-Religious Leaders, so there is some chance of sweeping The Early Religions.

And with that, I should list out the competition:

• William von Oranje
• Zara Yaqob
• Hannibal

Finally, for those who play the game prior to reading any of my commentary, I will mention that the Third Game (034-03-00-T0 - KMOD-FOUR-WAY - Slightly Easier Start - BC-4000) has been modified (as the name may imply) to a slightly easier start. For an AI, it likely makes little difference. But for a Human, the savings in tedium is enormous.

Um, does that give you any hint as to what I changed?

I played The Map five times, dominating on the final go round, which is The Game I will focus upon for the rest of the page.

In the above, Six Stacks of Malinese Ships surround the Dutch Town of Haarlem. To the left of The Screen, we see that three East Indiaman Ships are Holed up in Haarlem.

Rather than blanketing the ocean, surrounding this one City serves the same purpose. And if Mr Oranje (William von Oranje) should ever set sail, I can decide whether to Destroy his fleet or not on the first Turn.

I suppose, I should also mention that my ships are Ships of the Line with a Strength of 10 that in the end, handedly destroyed Mr Oranje's Strength 6 Fleet.

K-Mod went out of it's way to keep the Resources even... or maybe, that was the Map Script. Still, I am blaming K-Mod.

First, the Resources were lower than I would have liked. I like having four and five Food Resources in my Capital.

Secondly, each of us (the Four Civilizations on Four Continents) was allotted a Single Oil and a Single Uranium. Further, I am going to guess that we each either got Stone or Marble and the other Resources were divvied up more or less equally. For instance, I got a Single Silver and No Gold and No Gems.

Anyway, the above Oil is particularly bad. It's Sea Based, so requires a more Advanced Technology to harness. And until fairly recently, I would have thought that I'd have to Settle a City (say by the Horses) to gain access. But really, all one has to do is Build a Fort on the Desert North East of Thapsus to create a Canal and bring in a Work Boat from wherever.

Still, until recently, that's a solution to which I would have been unaware.

Though, having connected that Oil, it's fairly impervious to Enemy Spies and Marauders.


Also, just by-the-by, the two changes I made to The Map to make it easier were:

• Remove a Tile of Ice
• Originally, my Capitol resided on the Coast of an Inland Sea.
• I gave myself Ocean Access.
• Turn a Mountain into a Hill
• Originally, in order to access the Western Spur of My Continent, I had to travel by Sea, as a Mountain was blocking the way.
• I turned that Mountain into a Hill.
• The layout was still less than ideal.
  • But it eliminated the need to Transport Settlers, Workers, Spies, Missionaries, and Units via Sea, which can become quite tiresome as The Game progresses.

I find it increasingly hard to get excited about The Next Game. If I reload often enough (which would be equivalent to simply starting over on New Maps often enough), I win. I've got the Long Shot Strategy Down. And by Long Shot, I mean a Strategy that comes to fruition in the Late Game.

In the above, almost all of the Combat takes place between T740 & T780, which corresponds with my successful Invasion of The Netherlands. In This Game, one of the reasons I decided to Attack Mr Oranje first was because I tend to Attack weakest to strongest. But I thought it best to reverse the trend, prior to Mr Oranje catching up.

Combats

	Win	Lose
Attack	165	9
Defence	20	8

In reviewing The Graph, my best idea for The Next Game would be to try and even-out The Graph (so, apply a smoothing function of sorts) and try to have many more Combats in the Early Game.

To that end, Raging Barbarians come rapidly to mind. And rather than Building The Great Wall, as I would typically do, Build Troops, instead. Perhaps, playing Tokugawa would be appropriate, as he's both Aggressive (free Offensive Promotions) and Protective (free Defensive Promotions).

This could be compelling.

I'll have to give it some thought.

But really, I've got a few Non Civ Projects I wish to attend to first. So, the idea will have to retain it's appeal for awhile or it will simply fall off the backside.

Per the above, my Diplomatic Relations with Zara Yaqob were pretty darn good. When we had a Defensive Pact going, they were even better. The "You Gave Us Help" Bonus comes in at +1 for every time I Gave Tribute or Declared War at Yacky's request (+1 if you do, -1 if you don't). Also, since there was nothing happening in The Apostolic Palace, I voted for Yacky. It's a Bonus that wears off rather quickly. But it costs nothing.

Other Observations

• No Need To Save Specialists
• My Games are not lasting until Corporations.
  • So, there is no reason to Save Specialists for Corporations.
• Very Lean Map
• I blame this on the K-Mod.
• Personally, I'd like a richer world.
• But I'm going to guess it is fairer for (and/or easier on) the AI.
• Power Parity
• Avoids Attacks
• Or if Attacked, makes said Attacks meaningless.
  • If the Power Graphs says the Human is equal with an AI, the Human is way ahead...
    • As the AI simply does not know how to use it's Troops.

And I think that is that.