AI Mythical Domination Part One: Antarctica is a douche bag

Author: Sakoran
Published: 2017-10-16, edited: 2017-10-17

Part of the campaign:

AI Mythical Domination

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Game: Civilization V, Sid Meier's

AI Mythical Domination - Part Zero: Islamic Penguins & Other Introductions

Images: 24, author: Sakoran, published: 2017-10-15

Welcome back, it's u/Sakoran and I'd just like to start with a quick analysis of the first Power Rankings. My vote was equal to your own, and I got a total of 15 votes.

1. Beowulf, The Geats - A Civ directly created for Domination, and with weak neighbours.
2. Lich King, The Undead - Good UU replacements and a nice location promises big things.
3. Cthulhu, R'lyeh - Another OP Civ with aims of faith
4. Thoth Ampheres, Atlantis - A powerful naval figure, but could be damaged militarily
5. Headless Horseman, Halloween - Spooky Units are slightly better than normal Units
6. Niu Mo Wang, Yaogaui - Defensive Empire
7. Xeno, The Aliens - Ridiculously OP UA
8. Pengu, Antarctica - Gamebreaking UA
9. Santa Claus, The North Pole - Good UA Andy UB
10. Dark Priest, The Cultists - Good Civ weighed down by Settler Punishment
11=. Lycaon, Lycanthropes - Useless UA after Early Game
11=. Thorgrim, The Dwarves - No chance of offensive play
13. Ray Kurzweil, Transhumanists - A "meh" Civ with a unfitting UA and poor location that will probably be eliminated early.
14. Halfking, Halflings - While they aren't a bad Civ, per say, they are probably the worst for a Domination game.
15. Zombie Master, Zombies - When your UUs replace the two starting units you get, it isnt a surprise to rank last.
The Cthulhu's pick the firt pantheon, clearly directing them further towards their agenda of Faith and Conquest.
Meanwhile, Antarctica is the last Civilization with only one population. Ah, don't you love the frozen wasteland?
Despite that, Antarctica is swift to create the first second city, forward settling the Transhumanists, which might
prove useful if Pengu can eliminate them earlier enough to dominate the Triangle of Turmoil. (Let's be real, the Zombies are the most awful Civ in existence)
Every single Civ has 7 Technologies but the Transhumanists pull away by a whopping *one*. Clearly these
people are geniuses and can use words like "because" before the rest of them.
The Headless Horseman settles its second city near El Dorado, choosing to head towards the Aliens rather than the Dwarves. Either way, it's a slightly boring choice, but considering Halloween's location, at least they got Gems. Meanwhile, the Polynesians have accepted their fate and are throwing a "We're going to remain here forever, this sucks!" Party, giving them a nice, utterly useless Golden Age.
Beowulf also creates his second city, forward settling the Halflings. I mean, this guy ranked first in the Power
Rankings, and he's picking on the Civ that came 14th. He's clearly a bit of a bully. Also note, the Undead have chosen their Pantheon to be culture related, but the usual AI pantheon has not been taken yet. As well as this, the Atlatean Empire has chosen to move their settler south, away from the clustered mess that is their North.
I have come to the conclusion Niu Mo Wang is an utter idiot. He moved to his settler right up to the border of The Undead, to which I thought he was a douche, but at least competent, but then he did nothng with it for two turns before moving it up and settling on the only Tundra tile on the strip of land he was on. I truly hope he dies
first.
Atlantis also settles their second city, again slightly oddly, with Ampheres the Bizzare placing it right next to a mountain which blocks expansion to its south. There are also no resources directly next to it except Sheep and soon cattle, and the only purpose I think it serves is to prevent any of the Triangle of Turmoil, probably the Zombies,
from escaping.
The North Pole finally gathers an almighty, booming population of three by settling their second city amid the Tundra. The Transhumanists are also the first to enter the Classical Era, which might provide them with some more advanced forces to flip Wogaw from the Antarticans and effectively forward-settle them with their own city.
Never mind, Antarctica is out for blood. Settling their third city to the direct east of the H+ Capital, with a Zombie settler right to the Transhumanists' west, it looks likely that the H+ will be the first to go from the Triangle of Turmoil, if not the
game.
The second Alien Settlement, Zyx, is positioned close to Tarry Town, which might create some tension between the two high ranking Civs. With a possibility of border tension, a lone Halloween warrior lurks outside the Alien Capital.
Clearly the H+ Empire is something to watch and laugh at, with the Zombies forward settling the Transhumanists and
completely blocking their chances of expansion. Could this be the start of a Zombie-Antarctican Alliance against Ray
Kurzweil and his army of Transhumanists? And to add insult to injury, Antartica catches up to them and enters the Classical Era, crushing all hopes that they could recover with superior units.
Halloween rapidly catches up with Antarctica by founding their third city, Lyndhurst. Halloween also seems quite cowardly, the Headless Horseman fleeing from potential conflict with Xeno and building the city in the other direction. Also notice the worst UU in the game, the Zombie Sprinter, which replaces the Scout. Zombie Master obviously leads a top tier Civilization.
The Lycans passively create their second, coastal city to the south, as the Polynesians stop the party and have an existential crisis, realizing they are doomed to eternal observation of mass murder and wars.
I'm pretty sure that Niu Mo Wang is an elementary school dropout, as he leaves a huge gap between Qiemo and
Guangxi for the Lich King to abuse as he builds his third city, Kashgar on the other side, forward settling a city-state.
Meanwhile, Halloween enters the Classical Era; at least they know how to rule a nation.
Cthulhu also jumps into the Classical Era with the foundation of Leng, their second city on the coast of their small
island. With not much more room to expand, I predict he'll make his third city up north, which may cause a conflict
between him and the incompetent Yaoguai.
Thorgrim makes an aggressive move, founding Zhufbar right next to the borders of Pallantium. With superior defences, and more advanced units, the Dwarves are probably already plotting the destruction of their furry neighbours. Not every Civ in the world is bloodlusting, though, as Beowulf and the Halfking make a friendly alliance to protect each other from the malicious evils around them, such as Santa Claus. Lmao.
Atlantis builds the first wonder of the game, the Great Library, providing them with a much needed free technology to allow
them to stay relevant in the early game. While Atlantis has a decent population, it by far isn't in the same tier as Antartica or
Halloween, at least at this stage.
Saint Nicholas, supported by his army of vicious Snowmen, advances to the Classical Era, staring fiercely and stubbornly at his foes. With a small population and poor defences, Santa Claus must do everything he can to remain a major power in this game, instead of fading to become the weak prey of stronger Civs like the Geats. Despite this, his ruthless grin suggests that he may rip into the Halflings or the Undead Horde if they aren't careful. Santa is always watching.
Ray Kurzweil currently has the most gold in his treasury, aside from the rich Polynesians, by a large margin. Perhaps he could
spend some of this on militia to prevent the massive Antarctican horde outside his capital. However, the pacifistic Kurzweil has decided his one spearman shall destroy all of his pathetic penguin foes. The Zombies and Halflings are also rather rich, leading above the Lycanthropes, Antarticans and Undead by a significant amount.
We catch a glimpse at the Undead's UU, the Walking Corpse, in the background of the North Pole's new city, Christmas Village. Could
the Undead make a move at Qiemo in the foreseeable future? It's possible, but not with the pitiful army they have now, so the Lich King should quickly make some more troops if he wants to rule the strip.
Camelot, the only militaristic City State in the game have become the ally of the Aliens, which could suggest the Aliens are plotting some warmongering against the Headless Horseman. If this was the case, the Aliens would have a slight disadvantage, but if they pulled it off with help from Camelot, they could become unstoppable, and snowball. Remember, Halloween would
only be the first step. They are trying to add this planet to their intergalactic Empire, and they will kill all that stand in their way.
The Cthulhu capital of R'lyeh becomes a religious city for the Call Of Cthulhu, the world's first religion. This will quickly spread to Leng and their new city of Pnakotus, which surprisingly, they decided to domestically settle near them on their island.
However, their next city will have to be on a new continent, and I stick with my belief they'll go toward the Yaogaui, a much easier opponent than the Aliens. Although, that's not to say they wouldn't snipe the city of Zyx from them if Xeno was distracted with war against Halloween.
There isn't any new cities or religions on this slide, but I just wanted to point out this Halfling settler has been standing in that
exact spot for about three turns with no change or settling. Halfking, I know you don't want to anger Beowulf, but do something goddamnit.
I mean, the Halflings listened to me at least, but they seemed to be just as dumb as the Yaoguai. Ok, maybe that's going a bit far, but the Geats control nearly the entire area between their two cities, leading me to believe that the Halflings just want to sacrifice themselves to Beowulf. In other news, the Yaoguai have finally advanced to the Classical Era. Good for them, now just one more era until Niu Mo Wang can get that desperately needed education.
It was only just now that it occured to me that his mysterious city-less blob of boundaries allegedly belongs to Thoth Ampheres of Atlantis.
Are they developing, with the Great Library, the powers of Teleportation to block off the Alien invasion, become the Hero Archetype, and save the world?
On turn 57, war breaks out between the Dwarves and the Lycanthropes, as Thorgrim attempts to increase his empire. Considering Thorgrim is a more defensive Civ than offensive, it will be interesting to watch the Lycans defend their poorly protected cities of Pallantium and even their capital. Could this be the start of a series of Dwarven conquests?
On the next turn, a second war occurs. Surprisingly, Pengu of Antarctica decides not to direct his huge army at Kurzweil and Markov Geist, but instead Zombie Master, with the Antarctican forces already closing in on Kumul. Clearly, Antarctica is preparing to dominate the Triangle of Turmoil even from early stages, and even Atlantis should be worried if they manage to pull this off. If Antarctica does capture Kumul, it doesn't bode well for the H+ Empire either, as their capital will be completely encircled by the human-hating penguins, and Ray might find himself in Antarctica's UB, the Human Farm.
Despite having such a huge horde of units, the Antarcticans have not made a move on Kumul even after being bombarded. This could be
because they have no siege units, but even so the melee units could probably take the city with ease, even if it caused some damage to their army. As well as this, a Transhumanist settler attempts to flee the insanity that is the Penguin-Zombie war, and might build a city near Necropolis.
Say what I will about Niu Mo Wang, but his population is booming, 17 in three cities compared to an average of approximately 9. On another note, Beowulf creates Stonehenge and Antarctica has denounced every single Civ in the Triangle of Turmoil (Zombies, H+, Atlantis) and the Undead Horde
have finally built a new settler. They are the last Civ that hasn't settled a second city (except H+), so they are already lagging behind.
Apparently I was wrong, I had forgotten the existence of the Cultists. They are so irrelevant that it doesn't really matter to be honest, and even with their supposedly amazing UUs, without the ability to gain settlers themselves, they are completely screwed over since they can't reach any opponents
to attack. I guess the Cultists will remain in the shadows like they always have. In other news, the Transhumanists finally settled their second city, Tannhauser Gate, right on the North-West border of the Zombie Capital.
In a boring, waste of a war, Thorgrim and the Lycanthropes make peace after Lycaon founds Buddhism in Lycosura. The Pacifistic Lycans were unanimously against the war and offered anything to stop the conflict. The sympathetic Dwarfs allowed peace for some gold, rather than taking any of their cities.
Kumul loses it first points of health to the onslaught of Antarctican Archers, and with no units excluding a Catapult defending the city, it will undoubtedly fall soon, however at least they have surpassed my expectations on how long it will last, as I expected the city to have fallen several turns before. Good on you, Zombie Master.
Tensions between Halloween and the Aliens continue to grow as Halloween finishes the Statue of Zeus, as both empires have sizable militaries and with the proximity of their cities, conflict is inevitable. As it stands, with Camelot as their ally, I believe that the Aliens are still plotting conquest, and have a decent chance of victory if they begin war soon.
These tensions are only heightened by Xeno's completion of the Terracotta Army, which ensures that they will definitely invade Halloween in the near future. Antarctica also brings Kumul down to Yellow, and denounces Halflings, deciding to hate not just humans but even fantasy races. Wow, Antarctica. Antarctica has just continued being a fascist, nationalist douchebag denouncing anyone who looked at him the wrong way, and he's now denounced the Transhumanists, the Halflings, Atlantis, The Zombies and The Geats. His parents have clearly never taught him to play nice.
Kumul clings on to its last shreds of life as the Antarticans advance, but the Antarctican military isn't nearly as strong as it once was, now falling under the shadows of Xeno and The Headless Horseman, now parralel to some of the nations it could have initially destroyed, such as the newly militarized North Pole. Beowulf also founds the third Religion of the game, Catholocism in Skara, joining the Cthuluistic R'lyeh and the Buddhist Lycanthropes.
The scheme of the century has been uncovered as it is revealed that the North Pole has beeen importing sand from somewhere, as they just build the Pyramids in the centre of their Frozen Wastelands of Tundra and Snow. Their snowy neighbours, however, are less eccentric, as Antarctica would rather found Confucianism.
in Cogawkowakaka, which now makes the city a cross between Islam and their new religion. Are these a new breed of Confuslims? They just sound confusing.
Ibn Battuta has compiled an amazing list that shows that the happiest people in the World, surprising no-one, are The North Polians, followed by the Halflings, Zombies, Cultists, Thorgrim and Transhumanists all in a relatively equal group. I find this to be odd for Zombie Master, considering he just lost Kumul to Pengu.
Everyone is still happy, though, although the Lycanthropes and Antarcticans tread dangerously close to falling beneath the Happiness barrier, which makes sense for Pengu after their recent conquests aganst the Zombies.
Antarctica conquers Kumul, and also founds another city at around the same time, as well as churning out a new city. Pengu is not for subtlety as after being enranged that Saint Nicholas has six cities, he wanted to top this record. With a vastly weakened army, will Antarctica wipe the Zombies off the map or will Zombie Master fend them off? Based on the recent battle, I don't think Pengu could pry Necropolis of the Zombies even if they tried. The Cthulhu have also enhanced their religion, highlighting how
far ahead of everyone else they are in faith.
Niu Mo Wang finally feels the first repercussions of his idiocy, as the Lich King isolates Qiemo from the rest of the Yaoguai Empire. As well as this, Saint Nicholas continues to build cities, having built five cities before any other Civ has even got four. The Lycans are also catching up, having founded Macaria next north of the Dwarfs, which might be a provocation of a future attack.
Finally, the outbreak of war between Xeno and The Headless Horseman, amid Beowulf reforming Catholocism. The Aliens have a stronger military, but only just, and Halloween has strong defences. This war could go either way, but if Xeno does end up conquering them, they will at least provide a lot of resistance.
I think that's a good way to end the episode, so let's have a look at the stats.
The Undead Horde and The Yaoguai both have massive populations, breaking one million, followed closely by the Cultists and The North Pole, with a slow decrease until Atlantis just makes the top 10. Interestingly, despite such a strong start, Antarctica has the lowest population of any Civ.
Antartica makes up for this is Gross National Product, landing in the top 5 with R'lyeh, The North Pole, The Yaoguai and Halloween. The Aliens, a really strong Civ, only rank 13th on this list, while the Transhumanists remain at a lowly 8 on the bottom of the list.
The Tundraic Civilizations of The North Pole and Antarctica hold the most land, but the Aliens are also gaining as well as the Lycans and the Cthulhu. The Cultists and Zombies, having lost Kumul, rank 14th and 15th.
Militarily, The Aliens rank 1st by a large margin, followed by the North Pole and The Yaoguai, then the Undead Horde and Atlantis, which surprised me since Atlantis was eliminated first in my test run. Halloween narrowly misses out on the top 5, having dropped slightly even just from the start of his war against Xeno. Again, the Transhumanists, Zombies and Haflings lurk pathetically at the bottom of the list.
Technologically, Atlantis and The Aliens are the most developed, although it is quite equal the whole way down, with Yaoguai being 3rd before a group of several Civs with 15 Technologies. Despite this
supposedly being the Transhumanists' Strong Point, they seem fairly average.
Finally, faith gain. Only 8 Civs even have faith gain, and R'lyeh have the same as The Geats (2nd) and The Lycans (3rd), combined. Atlantis and Antarctica also have a fair amount, while The Dwarfs, Cultists and Undead Horde have a measly 1 faith per turn.

Next chapter:

Game: Civilization V, Sid Meier's

AI Mythical Domination Part 2: First Blood(y massacre)

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