Hello everyone, Phil here! I'm just going to give a brief introduction to what's going on. I have recently started playing Civilization VI with my tulpa Simmie. If you don't know what a tulpa is...google it lol. But suffice it to say, since she uses the same brain as me she has access to all my 20-ish years of Civ-playing knowledge.
Simmie is winning 1-0 with her cultural victory over me in our first game. She played Gorgo of Greece while I played Kristina of Sweden. The story of our first game is on some other site so we might port it over here at some point but eh, I just want to start where we are now.
At a point during our last game I realized I couldn't win and decided to submit to being Simmie's vassal. As part of that agreement, I get to pick the setup of the next game as well as who Simmie has to be! I also get to pick the victory type we are racing towards, and since we just did culture I'm going to have us race to the stars. First person to a Space Race victory wins! We're going to leave the other victory types enabled because part of the challenge is to prevent the AI from winning their own victory types.
Also, we are going to alternate who cornicles the story of our game by era. As per our agreement I will introduce the game and the Ancient Era, Simmie will do the Classical, I'll do the Medieval, and so on.
Game and World Setup
I've decided that we will play on a standard-sized Pangea map with 8 total civilizations. Our last game being on continents, we will go with a Pangea this time. The number of City States will be increased from 12 to 15 because, well, the AI likes to murder them. Factors such as World Age, Temperature, Rainfall, and Sea Level will all be randomized for maximum intrigue.
When it comes to game modes I will include everything from our last games: Barbarian Clans, Monopolies & Corporations, and Secret Societies. But I am also turning on Apocalypse Mode! It works with an added little roleplay idea I'm throwing in: the planet is going to be destroyed and we're racing to get off of it! Other than that everything is going to be normal.
I slot Simmie into spot #4 instead of #2 because I think that this might cause us to spawn further apart. Since we agreed I have the right to pick who she's going to be, I declare that she shall be Jadwiga of Poland, partially because they aren't known as a science civ, but also partially because the "Can Poland into space" meme. As for me, I don't want to be someone too overpowered, I still want this to be somewhat fair, so I will select Wilhelmina of the Dutch, mostly for the district bonuses on rivers.
Oh, and we'll be playing on Emperor Difficulty. Now to begin the game!
The Ancient Era (Turn 1-59)
I load in first and see that I am in the far north; tundra is immediately above my city. However, there are plentiful resources around me so I decide there's no reason not to play it out. I'm on a floodplain and consider moving since on Apocalypse Mode this river will flood constantly. But I figure an early Liang governor would help a lot with that. Still, for defensive reasons, I move one tile down.
Simmie is also in the northern tundra too with a volcano nearby. Because of Apocalypse Mode it is going to erupt constantly, so she's going to want an early Liang too, but she will get good volcano yields. She's moving her opening settler too. There is still a chance we will re-game here, but we're tentatively continuing.
I place my capital on Turn 2 while Simmie places hers on Turn 3. Simmie plans to go for a religion-science game while I am thinking I'll forgo religion. The events of the first 20 or so turns might change one or both of our minds though.
I already see a barbarian scout! Undoubtedly this wide open terrain is going to make for some pretty brutal barbarian encounters for both of us.
Simmie finds a city state (Muscat) on Turn 3, easily being the first one to spot it. It also unlocks Owls of Minerva right off the bat. Simmie is thinking about it but would rather use the free governor promotion to get a jump on Liang.
On Turn 5 Simmie already finds another city state, Taruga, and a natural wonder, cliffs of Dover! This is already a huge spate of a good luck for her as this boost Astrology and therefore she can get her religion faster. It also unlocks Hermetic Order. Now here's a rule that we haven't mentioned: Since Hermetic Order is very RNG about lay lines, we have agreed that if either of us pick Hermetic Order and aren't happy with the lay lines we get we can call for a do-over of that turn and pick a different society.
Simmie is lucking out with some pretty good mountains near her. But she doesn't seem to be on the coast while I am.
I've unlocked Voidsingers but like Simmie I'm going to use my first governor tile for Liang. I got a free scout from a goodie hut, and that's huge! Also I found Nazca, which means I'm gaining one faith a turn while Simmie is not. If I pick Dance of the Aurora before her I can totally mess up her gameplan!
Simmie met a city state where she was not the first. Someone else is near her! Also, based on the continents map, I suspect Simmie is to my west, but not close by.
Simmie lucks out with two sources of horses directly in her capital! She is researching Astrology now, she wants to get her religion fast! Meanwhile a barb scout has noticed my capital. There's another camp to my south too--this could get ugly.
I see borders and it's not Simmie! I'll find out who it is next turn...and it's Korea! Traditionally a very strong Science civ, they're someone to watch out for.
Simmie is nuts; she really is going to go for her religion before her first settler! If she manages to get Dance of the Aurora + Work Ethic it'll pay off in a big way. If she doesn't--well, she's in trouble. She did get a free builder from a goodie hut which enabled her to stop working on the builder she was already making and switch straight into her holy site. With two pastures her production should actually be pretty good!
Meanwhile my production is fairly bad; I absolutely need a builder before I can do anything. I've got several pasture opportunities in my capital so that might be my pantheon choice. I'll know in a couple more turns.
I have met the Portuguese! History is repeating itself from last game: I have met two people before Simmie has met anyone at all. They are located a pretty good distance to the southeast.
Simmie had her slinger cornered and destroyed by a barbarian spearman. That's bad news, but she might be able to replace him soon. Meanwhile, I'm taking out my first camp! I've discovered Sanguine Pact, and I have to say, the idea of vampires on a map this open and riddled with barbs is quite enticing.
Time to pick my pantheon! Dance of the Aurora is still there, I could totally screw Simmie if I wanted...but no, it wouldn't help me at all, and I should pick something that would actually benefit me. I am torn between Fertility Rites and God of the Open Sky. The extra culture from pastures would help me...but a free builder is hard to past up. Um....I go Open Sky. Cultural cows here we come!
Simmie has also met Korea. Our scouts have now walked on similar ground but at different times. I'm not going to go out of my way to meet her just yet--if it happens it happens. I think she feels the same way; she has more pressing matters on her mind. She is so nervous about this religion gambit paying off.
I see the borders of America but I have not yet met them. The question is: Which Teddy will it be? A turn later I get my answer as he finds me: Bull Moose. The culture guy. I feel a need to expand in his direction or else he'll choke me off from the river I want to be near.
It's Turn 27; Simmie has finished her Holy Site and she's now going to bang out those prayers like there's no tomorrow! She's pressuring me to get our turns over with pretty quick because she's tense with anticipation over whether or not this gambit is going to work.
I met Japan on Turn 29! There are now only three people I haven't met, one of which is Simmie. Simmie has only met Korea. Also, Teddy has agreed to friendship! This is hugely important as they are by far the closest to me. Two turns later I also secure Japan's friendship!
I have to say Simmie has been having a tough go of it with scouting. She only has one scout and it keeps finding itself in little cul-de-sacs and having to backtrack. Because of goodie huts I now have three scouts and they're going all over the place discovering all the things!
My builder is finally done! Perhaps with a few pastures I can get rid of my production woes. Starting on a 16-turn settler that I hope can be brought down!
Simmie finishes her holy site prayers and immediately starts on another round. One thing's for sure, she will certainly get her religion before anyone else. No one else is even gaining great prophet points!
On Turn 33 I find yet another Civ: The Phoenicians. Now it really is just a matter of Simmie and one other person!
Simmie is screaming with joy: She's got Dance of the Aurora!!!! Now her religion is absolutely guaranteed to be bonkers! Now all she has to do is press on with her holy site prayers and get Work Ethic and whatever else she wants and she's set!
On Turn 41 I elected to go with Owls of Minerva. I think they'll suit me well in this game with my civ and victory path. Simmie is leaning towards Hermetic Order still. Turns out Dido and Korea both went Owls too; America and Portugal went Voidsingers, while Japan went Sanguine Pact.
Simmie is starting to think that she's on the far western portion of the continent with nobody but the Koreans all that close to her. Not really a bad position for her as long as she can keep the Koreans friendly.
On Turn 44 I finally have my first settler out, curse my lousy production! I'm going to try and build one more settler before building up a little. I strongly suspect we are on a low sea level map and thus there is plenty of territory to be claimed for everyone.
On Turn 46 Simmie founds her religion!!! She calls it "Can Into Space"; and she grabbed Work Ethic obviously, and also Cross-Cultural Dialogue to boost her science. She could get tithe but she plans to get her income from commercial hubs rather than religion this game.
I finally founded my first city on Turn 48; it was about as close to the Americans as I could get. It threatens to flip, but with some growth and a governor it should be fine. It has plenty of river tiles for my adjacency and it's across the river from America, which should help if they ever decide to attack, but it's still pretty wide open so I absolutely have to keep them friendly.
Simmie made her first city on Turn 53; it's going to be a good producer once its holy site is finished but until then it's not going to be much. It's the curse of the work-ethic tundra build.
On Turn 56 Teddy declared war on Dido, which at least should have the effect of him thinking about me less!
And on the same turn I met the Australians. The only holdout is Simmie herself! This also means that Australia is the only person in both our last game and this one.
Because of Simmie's big Work Ethic boost she has the ability to make Hanging Gardens in 9 turns so she's going to go for it!
And then, on Turn 59, the Classical Era begins! I have achieved a Golden Age mostly thanks to my scouts, a wonderful thing given my second city's proximity to America's pressure. I decided to go for Free Inquiry. Unforunitely, America also is in a golden age so his pressure is still very strong. Also, I should mention that America now has the second religion in the game. Simmie meanwhile has only achieved a Normal Age. She's going into Exodus of the Evangelists in the hopes that she can enter a golden age and expand via faith in the Medieval era.
Stats at the end of the Ancient Era:
Phil (Wilhelmina of the Netherlands):
Cities: 3
Citizens: 8
Science: 7
Techs Researched: 8
Culture: 8
Faith: 3
Gold: 4
Highest Producing City: 7
Simmie (Jadwiga of Poland):
Cities: 2
Citizens: 7
Science: 9
Techs Researched: 7
Culture: 3
Faith: 7
Gold: 18
Highest Producing City: 20
Conclusion
A fairly exciting start to this game!!! Overall Simmie's production is going to give her a strong advantage in this upcoming age, but my superior culture will help me unlock my Tier 1 government and other civics faster. My success hinges on my ability to stabilize my production and go into heavy district production. Simmie's success hinges on her ability to get her holy sites up and create a number of high-producing tundra cities!
Join us next time for the Classical Era, where Simmie will take her turn presenting the game! Thank you everyone!